


The one where Loki suffers and I keep making vine references

by floralhearts



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Whump, Loki's a mess but it's ok, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Panic Attacks, Thanos is a dick, Whump, Young!Loki, loki deserves better u guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralhearts/pseuds/floralhearts
Summary: “What the hell do you mean ‘he’s ours’?” Clint inquired, a borderline angry look on his face. He eyed the figure behind Thor wearily. The other Avengers stood stiff, watching the conversation carefully. Thor chuckled sheepishly.“My apologies,” he started, “I should have worded that more clearly. The Allfather has decided to give you custody of my brother, it is his punishment, you see."OrThe one where Loki has to live with the Avengers and no one's happy about it.CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN !!!!





	1. i'm just chillin in avengers tower

**Author's Note:**

> there isn't rlly a specific timeline for this i just rlly want everyone to be together lmao

“What the hell do you mean ‘he’s ours’?” Clint inquired, a borderline angry look on his face. He eyed the figure behind Thor wearily. The other Avengers stood stiff, watching the conversation carefully. Thor chuckled sheepishly. 

“My apologies,” he started, “I should have worded that more clearly. The Allfather has decided to give you custody of my brother. His magic has him binded to tell nothing but the truth so fear not his silver tongue. He is binded to do whatever it is you command.” Thor looked serious now. His blue eyes were hardened in the sunlight. “To clarify, whatever you tell him to do, he has to do.”

That was when Tony stepped in.

“Hold up,” He waved his hands in the air, “you’re giving us your brother as a slave?” He asked. Thor opened his mouth to object, but hesitated as he thought about what Tony had said. It was evident that Thor was not happy about these circumstances, but he had never considered it slavery. The god of thunder turned to his brother with sad eyes. Loki avoided his stare.

“What do you mean ‘he has to obey us’?” Steve questioned from the side. He had been watching intently, but he now seemed to have questions of his own. 

“Our father has binded him with ancient magic. The magic connects him to whomever the Allfather wishes to cast commands. In this case, it is all of you.”

The avengers looked at each other, and then to the trickster. They noticed a couple things were different since they had last seen him. For instance; His hair was lacking its sleek greasy look, it had much more volume and looked much softer, his skin was almost translucent in the sun’s glow. And all of those things were different, but most of all they noticed his eyes. 

When Loki had invaded, his eyes had been a striking blue. They had drawn attention to all around him. It was almost as if they glowed. They had been even more vibrant than Clint’s. Had there been different circumstances, they would have been absolutely beautiful. But then again he had murdered hundreds of people. They hadn’t had time to admire his eyes. But now, now his eyes were anything but striking. They had lost their light, they were dull. Not only had they lost their vibrance, but they had lost their colour. They seemed green now. It put the Avengers on edge. 

“Are we allowed to decline?” Natasha asked. It was the first time she had spoken since Thor had arrived. She had spent her time silently observing the god of mischief. 

“You may, but he would end up going to another person. Most likely the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Thor stated. And while he seemed nonchalant, there was a pleading look in his eyes. They could see it in his face. He was begging them to take his brother. 

“Well then we have to take him,” Bruce piped up, “we can’t just let them take him to prod and experiment on…” There was a murmur of agreement.  
“Hold up,” Tony started, “why would it be so bad if S.H.I.E.L.D. got him? You guys _do _remember how many people he killed right?”__

__“Tony,” Bruce sighed, “Just think of it this way, Loki can do the cleaning. He can do whatever you want him to do. What use is he to you with S.H.I.E.L.D.?” He asked. That seemed to resonate with Tony as he grinned wide._ _

__“You do seem to be right my dear Brucie.” He tried to put his elbow on Bruce, which was quite a feat seeing as how short the billionaire was. He turned to Thor with a wide smile. “We’ll take him!” He declared._ _

__“Tony,” Steve chided, “We have to make that decision as a team!”_ _

__“Well,” Tony turned, “were you going to let him become a lab rat?” He asked. Slowly, Steve shook his head._ _

__“There we go!” Tony yelled excitedly, “Decision made! Team happy! Gimme gimme.” He made a grabby motion with his hands. Loki raised a brow at the childlike behaviour but did not speak. Thor sighed._ _

__“Very well,” He hugged Loki gently, and for once, the trickster didn’t resist. He simply breathed in his brothers scent and prayed to the norns that these avengers wouldn’t be the death of him, “I must return home, but I promise I will visit. Be safe.” Thor said, before raising his hammer in the air. “Heimdall!” He cried. A large cylinder of light showered upon the thunderer and just like that he was gone._ _

__“Well reindeer games,” Tony started, “get your crazy ass over here.” He commanded jokingly. Loki’s eyes widened as a small glimmer of silver magic passed over his body. He walked stiffly over to the group. They watched bewildered._ _

__“Did you do that?” Steve asked. Loki simply shook his head. “That was a command. Therefore the magic acted on its own accord.”_ _

__The Avengers took a second to process this. “Hold up,” Clint said, “so the magic just decides what and what isn’t a command.” He asked. Loki nodded slowly._ _

__“I suppose so.”_ _

__“You _suppose _” Tony inquired. “What, you don’t know?”___ _

____“No.”_ _ _ _

____“What? Do you not know anything about this magic?” Clint asked._ _ _ _

____“I know as much as you know, Mr. Barton.” Loki said, borderline amused. Clint squirmed slightly at the use of his last name. It felt strange when Loki used it._ _ _ _

____“Oh,” Loki said, amusement more visible now, “I do know one other thing.” The Avengers listened intently, hoping for more information on their predicament. Loki said nothing._ _ _ _

____“Well?” Steve asked._ _ _ _

____“Oh you would like to know?” Loki asked with a grin on his face._ _ _ _

____“Well duh.” Tony said matter of factly._ _ _ _

____“Whatever you command, I must do. Therefore, there is nothing keeping you from ordering me to rip my magic from my soul therefore killing me. Or you could order my heart to stop beating and it simply would. Magic can do whatever you command. Boundaries do not exist in the realm of magic.” He grinned, showing all his teeth with a dangerous glare in his eyes, “There is nothing, and I truly mean nothing you can’t make me do.”_ _ _ _

____Silence. They hadn't been expecting that. In some weird way, Loki seemed more crazy and yet even more subdued at the same time. It was quite strange._ _ _ _

____“Well I’m not going to kill my new housekeeper.” Tony said, an affronted look on his face, “So you can check that off your little list pal.”_ _ _ _

____Loki looked a little upset that Tony was unaffected by his dramatics, but said nothing._ _ _ _

____xxx_ _ _ _

____“So that was the common room,” Tony waved back in the direction they had came in. Loki looked around curiously, taking in all the architecture around him. “We play board games and throw movie marathons in there.” The billionaire said nonchalantly. They stopped at a door around thirty feet from said common room._ _ _ _

____“And this, my unstable murdering friend, is your room!” Tony said with a bit too much snark in his voice. Loki paid no attention to him as he carefully stepped into the room and looked around him. The walls were grey, with a painting of a lake on the far left wall. There was a queen sized bed with a grey comforter in the middle of the room, a bathroom to his left, and a dresser with a small green leafy thing on it. “Ta-daa!” Tony waved his hands in the air._ _ _ _

____“It’s bland, I know. But we figured you could spice it up yourself.” He said, grin not slipping from his face._ _ _ _

____“‘Spice it up…’” Loki repeated. He looked confused._ _ _ _

____“Uh yeah, it means like, add your personal touch. Decorate it! Lokify it!” Tony explained. Loki simply nodded. The god remained silent and continued to scan his surroundings. Tony shifted uncomfortably._ _ _ _

____“Well I’m gonna go, you just get settled in here.” He said, already backing out of the room. “I’ll call you for dinner.”_ _ _ _

____Loki paid him no mind as he walked over to the dresser. He heard the door shut behind him. Carefully, he eyed the small leafy thing. He poked it once. It was soft, yet not too soft. It was in a small bowl like thing and surrounded by dirt._ _ _ _

____“I do wonder what this is.” He murmured._ _ _ _

____“That happens to be a succulent, sir. A small plant that humans enjoy taking care of.” A voice said, coming from seemingly nowhere. Loki whipped around and stared at the wall._ _ _ _

____“Who said that?” He asked._ _ _ _

____“I did, sir.” Replied the voice. Loki noticed it came from the ceiling._ _ _ _

____“Show yourself to me.” Loki said, glaring at the roof._ _ _ _

____“I am afraid I can not. I do not have a physical body, sir.” The voice explained. Loki’s muscles relaxed. He breathed easy._ _ _ _

____“Oh, you are just a spirit. That’s okay.” He said calmly. If JARVIS could have laughed, he most likely would have._ _ _ _

____“I’m actually an A.I sir. My name is JARVIS.”_ _ _ _

____“A.I. hm?” Loki sat on the bed carefully. “I’ve never heard of that kind of spirit. It is nice to meet your acquaintance, JARVIS.” He said._ _ _ _

____“It is nice to meet you as well, sir.” JARVIS quipped back. Loki’s brow furrowed slightly._ _ _ _

____“Why do you call me sir?” He asked._ _ _ _

____“Would you prefer I didn’t? I could simply call you Mr. Odinson or Laufeyson, that is, if you’d prefer.” Loki pondered on the names for a moment. He hadn’t really considered his last name._ _ _ _

____“Laufeyson. Loki Laufeyson. It sounds better than Loki Odinson, don’t you agree spirit?” He asked, staring up at the ceiling once again. “I do, Mr. Laufeyson.” Replied the A.I., with a hint of amusement in it’s robotic voice. Loki smiled. Laufey may have not been his father, but they were related by blood.  
Dinner came quickly and soon Loki was summoned into the dining room. As he shuffled in, he noticed that everyone else was seated already. They were chatting amongst themselves as he hung by the doorframe. He was still wearing his armour and felt quite out of place, especially seeing how casual the others were dressed. Captain Rogers was dressed in a grey t-shirt and sweats, Stark was dressed in a long sleeved black shirt and jeans, Barton was in a hoodie with sweats, Banner was in a t-shirt and jeans, and Romanoff was sporting a t-shirt with a comical cat and long grey sweats. They all looked very comfortable. And yet, Loki was standing there with his formal armour and feeling more uncomfortable every passing second. _ _ _ _

____Every now and then, his heavy metal chest plate would rub upon his bruised and broken ribs and he would let out a small hiss of pain. He could feel some partially healed cuts tear open when he moved too much but he knew they wouldn’t bleed enough to soak through his garments. He felt a pounding in his head and just wanted to go back to his little room._ _ _ _

____“Hey!” Tony squawked as Natasha reached over and snatched a fry from his plate. “You give that back- oh,” He looked over to where Loki was standing, “Hey reindeer games! Come sit!” He patted the empty seat beside him with a large grin on his face. Clint elbowed him sharply in the side. With a small grimace of pain, the grin slipped from Tony’s face and he sat silently._ _ _ _

____The lot of them watched as Loki trudged awkwardly to the seat. He sat down carefully and stared at his hands. The silence ensued for a few moments before Steve cleared his throat. Loki looked up to see all eyes on him. He shifted under the weight of their stares._ _ _ _

____“Now Loki,” the captain said, a stern look on his face, “I know we were quite patronizing before but, we’ve talked it over and things are going to be very strict here. You are after all, the ringleader of a literal invasion. For some of us, it will be easy to be strict and professional with you, but _others _,” he looked at Tony pointedly, “will have to realize that you aren’t our friend and that we’re only doing this for Thor.”___ _ _ _

______“That and the fact that handing you over to S.H.I.E.L.D. would make us as bad as… well you.” Bruce added. Loki nodded slowly, choosing not to say anything. He could tell things were going to be quite tense for quite some time._ _ _ _ _ _

______Dinner continued on in the same fashion that Loki had seen when he first walked in. The Avengers were really quite loud, it was almost like being on Asgard again. All that was missing was the golden light of the fires and the smashing of glasses as warriors alike demanded more drinks. They ignored him for the most part, to which he was grateful. He really did not feel like conversing._ _ _ _ _ _

______Loki eyed the substances on his plate wearily. There were small yellow sticks, fries, he had heard Tony call them. The other thing had many layers. He had heard the iron man call it a burger._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s not poisoned don’t worry.” The spider said from his left. She watched him curiously, as if analysing his every move. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze. He knew very little about her and that scared him even more. His words were his shield and weapon, if he had no information on her then he could not protect himself. He felt… vulnerable. He could feel his hands trembling._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Poison?” Banner said, his mouth full, “who got poisoned?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No one, crazy here’s just paranoid.” Clint commented, a bored look on his face. Loki looked down once again._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It wouldn’t be my first time…” He murmured, voice hardly audible. He felt a slight bit of anger boil in his stomach at the archers words, but he also felt worry. He had had very bad experiences with poisons and acids. He knew they could be lying to him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What? What the hell does that mean?” Tony questioned. The others stared intently. Loki immediately felt regret at what he had said. “It’s nothing, just rambling.” He said, trying to stop his hands._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No no, I wanna hear. I _demand _you tell us what you’re talking about.” Clint said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Loki stiffened as he felt control of his body slip. A silver shimmer of magic washed over him and soon he was speaking.___ _ _ _ _ _

________“Long ago, I was visiting Vanaheim. The Allmother’s father lives there. My “grandfather” if you may. As we ate dinner that night, I began to feel lightheaded. By the time we were almost finished, I had passed out. When I awoke, I was in a cell in the castle dungeons. My “grandfather” was watching me. I was kept there for a century while he tortured me for information on Odin's plans for Asgard. Funny enough he never got any information and I was tortured for nothing.” The Avengers watched as Loki’s eyes grew wider the more he spoke. No matter what he did his mouth didn’t stop moving. “Then there was the time where I was tied to the floor of a cave with the organs of my youngest daughter. Above me, was a snake that dripped acid into my eyes for centuries. While I believe your earth retelling of the stories says Sigyn was there to aid me, she was not. She and all of my children were slain by Asgardian warriors and I was forced to watch. Needless to say, those centuries were full of emotional and physical agony-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“That’s enough!” Steve barked out. His tone was stern but his eyes were scared. The silver glimmer of magic dissipated and Loki’s mouth snapped shut. The god was almost shaking with anger, yet he said nothing. Steve felt guilt as he looked at Loki’s face. The rage didn’t reach his eyes. His dull green eyes were alight with sadness and pain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I think I’ll go back to my cell- room now.” Loki said, face flushed. He stormed out of the room hastily._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________No one tried to stop him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Shit.” Clint murmured under his breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Did anyone else notice the way he said ‘cell’? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Should we want him to feel like he’s in prison? Obviously we’re not in the wrong right? I mean, we are still the good guys aren’t we? Like that was some dark shit but he’s still the bad guy right?” Tony asked all at once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Obviously we’re the good guys.” Bruce said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The rest of Tony’s questions went unanswered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________xxx_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Hot angry tears rolled down Loki’s face. His chest tremorred with rage with every breath he took. He was sitting cross legged on the floor, trying desperately to calm the shaking of his hands. His blood was boiling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He inhaled. 1,2,3,4_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He held his breath. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He exhaled. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And he repeated._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slowly, he felt his muscles relax. The wetness behind his eyes disappeared and he could breathe freely again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Spirit,” He rasped, voice rough from the tears._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yes Mr. Laufeyson?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Will I be forced to eat with them for every meal every day?” He asked, with an almost nervous look on his face. _Almost _. Gods didn’t get nervous.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I am afraid so. Although, if you’d like my opinion, I don’t think they’ll try something like that again.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________That made Loki feel slightly better. The spirit knew the Avengers, it could watch them all the time. He could trust it for the most part, but not fully. He had to assume that even beings without a physical form would betray him. He refused to ever trust someone so blindly again. Not after _Him _.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Come now little trickster, let me heal those injuries for you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Loki shuddered as the words flashed in his mind. He bit hard on his tongue to calm himself, but he had suddenly lost the ability to breathe once more. Images of _Him _flashed through his mind and he felt his chest constrict in fear. His fists clenched and he felt his skin break under the pressure. Warm sticky blood was suddenly all over his hands. His breath slowed and he brought his hands to his face. “Oh.” He said dumbly. It didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t feel like anything else. Everything was just kind of numb.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________There was sudden knocking on his door. Loki looked up from his hands and stiffly walked to the door. Carefully he pressed the open button and it slid open silently. Stark was standing there, hair ruffled, eyes squinted, and in the midst of a huge yawn. He was wearing captain america pyjama bottoms which _had _to be a joke. “What’s crackalackin Lokes?” He asked, eyes still barely open.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Crackalackin?” Loki asked. Midgardian slang was so strange. “Uh yeah, Jarvis told me you were bleeding and that you had an elevated heart rate.” Tony clarified, though not explaining what ‘crackalackin’ meant._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Oh.” Loki said once more, looking down at his bloodied hands. Tony grabbed them suddenly and looked at them carefully. Loki could clearly see crescent moon shaped cuts in both palms. “It’s really nothing he murmured._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Your crazy ass better hope it’s not nothing, Jarvis better not have woken me up at four in the morning for ‘nothing’.” He said, pulling Loki’s hands closer. Loki looked at the little clock on his nightstand and read the glowing red numbers. ‘4:41 a.m.’ it read. He felt stupid for not realizing how late it was. He knew midgardians needed their sleep and he felt slightly guilty for waking Stark at this hour. Stark was the one who had been rather kind to him as of late. While the genius had called him crazy, he had also joked around with him, smiled at him, been someone that Loki could count on not murdering him. But that could be a facade. It could all just be an elaborate plan to get Loki to trust him, to lower his guard. Loki felt the realization that the minute he let himself trust Stark, he could turn on him just like _He _had done. _I won’t let that happen, not again _. He thought._____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Lokes? You good?” Tony asked, breaking Loki from his thoughts. He looked up rather angrily, he wasn’t going to be fooled by Stark’s feigning kindness. Especially not after the captain's speech at the dinner table. “Lokes come sit down alright?” Tony coaxed. He sat Loki on the bet and turned on a lamp. Loki felt a pang of annoyance in his chest every time the billionaire called him ‘Lokes’ or ‘Reindeer Games’, but for some reason he hadn’t yet told him to stop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“So, did you have a panic attack?” Tony asked, wrapping bandages over the god’s hands. Loki’s brow furrowed, panic attack?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I’m afraid I don’t know what that is- don’t wrap my hands they’re fine.” He said, shaking Tony away. The genius made a noise of protest before snatching Loki’s hands once more and continuing his work._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Why are you doing this? My wounds are anything but serious, they are just scratches, and it’s not like we’re comrades. In fact we’re supposed to be the opposite of that.” Loki said, staring down Tony with wide eyes, as if trying to see inside of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Well you’re kind of our responsibility,” He said, “Thor left you with us. And you’re a prince,” Loki scoffed at that, “and that means, crazy murderer villain or not, Asgard would probably have our heads if something happened to you. Plus for a couple of scratches your nails went in pretty deep.” He explained, eyes not leaving the bandaged hands. Loki almost laughed at that. A part of him wanted to tell Tony that they could kill him right here and now and Asgard would probably throw them a feast, but another part knew not to give them another reason to kill him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Besides, panic attacks aren’t fun, there’s no reason for me to be dick about it.” Tony said, finishing with the bandages and putting them away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“You keep saying I had a ‘panic attack’ what is that?” Loki asked curiously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Uh, it’s probably better if Jarvis explains that,” He looked up at the ceiling, “could you tell him Jar?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Of course sir,” the A.I. replied. “A panic attack is the abrupt onset of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes and includes at least four of the following symptoms: Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate. Sweating. Trembling or shaking. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Discomfort…” Loki repeated._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“They can also be triggered by traumatizing memories.” Jarvis added. Loki swallowed thickly. Memories. That would make sense. “I see…” He said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine. There’s not really anyone here you can trust enough to talk to about these things.” Stark comforted. Loki nodded once more._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“So,” Tony said, turning to face Loki, and the god realized with a sense of dread that Stark was in fact, not leaving, “I get the feeling Thor didn’t tell us everything. He kinda left in a hurry, don’t know what that was about.” He trailed off. “Why don’t you tell me in detail about the conditions of your punishment-” Loki’s eyes widened in fear and surprise, “not because I want to make you uncomfortable!” He clarified, waving his hands. “It’s not a light topic, I know, but I just want to understand what’s going on. It’ll make things easier for everyone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Loki kind of really wished Stark would leave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I am not only bound to obey your every command,” He sighed, “I have also been stripped of my magic and of my lies. These-” He gestured to the two thin silver bracelets on both wrists, “-are not just for show. They are what force me to listen to you.” He explained._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Stripped of your lies…” Tony repeated, thinking hard. “You can’t lie?” Loki shook his head, “But you’re known for your lies! Isn’t that hard?” He questioned, an incredulous look on his face. Loki nodded, “Indeed, but I do think that’s the point of a punishment; to punish me.” He deadpanned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Oh right, cause you killed people and stuff.” He recalled. Loki let a laugh slip at that. “And stuff.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Sir I regret to inform you that you have a brunch at nine and Ms. Potts has asked that you awaken at six so that she can brief you on the meetings following afterwards.” Jarvis piped up. Loki looked at the clock; 5:54 a.m. Tony stood and stretched his arms out wide._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Thanks Jar.” He said,still stretching. He began exiting the room but stopped at the door frame. “Listen Lokes, you probably don’t wanna go out for breakfast but we won’t do anything like that again. That was out of line. Even if we’re the good guys and you’re the bad guy, you didn’t do anything wrong. So… sorry about that.” He said. Without another word he slipped out into the hallway and Loki was left alone with his thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. character development ahead? uh yeah i sure hope there is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the avengers figure some things out and loki cries a lot bc what's an angst fic without tears?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter moves waaaay too fast but honestly idc i already gave up on fixing it lmao

Loki didn’t sleep after Tony left. It was already morning and he wasn’t at all tired. He simply sat in his room and stared at the various objects in it. As bored as he was, he really didn’t feel like going into the kitchen and/or common room. The night before had been humiliating and as much as Jarvis and Tony promised something like that wouldn’t happen again, he’d rather be safe than sorry. He could truly only trust himself. Jarvis and Tony had been good hosts, but he knew better than to blindly trust someone. He was their prisoner, he had to remember that.

“Spirit?” He asked, “Do you have any books?” At least he could pass the time with those. Midgardian days were much shorter and he could probably sleep and or read away a large portion of his sentence. 

“I am afraid there are none at your disposal, Mr. Laufeyson.” Loki felt his microscopic bubble of hope burst, “But there is a Starkpad in the top left drawer of your nightstand.” 

“A Starkpad?”

“An electronic device which contains thousands of books among other things inside of it.” Jarvis explained. Curiosity spiked in his mind and he shuffled towards the nightstand. He opened it carefully and found the Starkpad immediately. It was thin, space grey, and had a large Stark logo on the back. There were three buttons on the side. He pressed the largest and the screen lit up.

“What do I do next? There’s just the time being displayed, I already have a clock,” Loki ruffled. “If you swipe to the left it will unlock, sir.” Jarvis explained. Loki pressed his finger to the screen and dragged it left. Suddenly the screen changed and he was met with multiple things that he had zero understanding of. “For once, I can admit I am truly helpless when it comes to something like this…” He muttered. 

“If you’d like, I can summon Captain Rogers to explain to you,” Jarvis offered, “He too has just learnt about technology.”

“Mmhm” Loki hummed, ignoring what the A.I had said. “Alright.” He continued to tap the screen confusedly for a few moments before realizing what Jarvis had said. 

“Oh no! No no no no no,” He scrambled up off the bed, pointing a finger at the ceiling, “Spirit don’t you dare-”

“Captain Rogers is on his way.”

Loki groaned loudly. He really was not in the mood to talk to the captain, even if it was just to tell him to go away. Captain Rogers was scary in some ways. He seemed to be kind to Loki at moments but harsh and strict at others. Loki really didn’t need a human who’s mood changed every five seconds. 

Loki got up as a loud firm knocking pounded at the door. The door slid open to reveal a confused Steve Rogers. “Jarvis said you needed help,” he said. 

“Jarvis overreacts,” Loki grumbled, “I was simply trying to understand the strange device you call a Starkpad, I can figure that out on my own.” He shot a pointed glare towards the ceiling. 

“Oh a Starkpad! I just figured those out myself- here let me help you.” The captain said, entering the room. Loki felt slight relief knowing that the Captain had decided he liked Loki in this moment. Though it didn’t quell the annoyance he felt as the captain, just like Tony had, decided he wasn’t leaving.

“Okay look, this is the home screen,” He gestured to the screen in general, “and these are apps. You can download any apps you want. All of them have different purposes. Like this one-” He pointed to an app with a red play button, “Is the Youtubes, you can watch videos on it. And this,” He gestured to a rainbow gradient application, “Is Instagram, and you can create a profile and look at other peoples profiles. Oh and this!” He tapped on an app that was red, green and yellow with a blue center, “Is the interweb! You can access pretty much anything here. Like if you wanted to know more about cats,” He typed in ‘cats’, “You can find pictures and information and whatever you’d like. You can also use your Starkpad to text other people,” He hesitated as Loki’s brow furrowed, “Text is like an electronic message.” He explained. 

“It’s a lot to take in, I know, but after messing around for a couple of days you’ll probably get the gist of it.” He said, taking in Loki’s bewildered expression.

“Jarvis told me there were books inside,” The god comment quietly. Steve’s face lit up..

“Oh yeah there are! Apple phones and Hammertech phones have Kindle and stuff, but Tony’s Starkpads have a completely different app. It’s a lot better in my opinion.” Steve tapped on the blue application and Loki found himself staring at hundreds of thousands of book covers. “There are audio books, or just text books. Either way, there’s a lot.” Steve concluded. He handed Loki the tablet and stood up.

“Why are you suddenly acting towards me in a friendly manner? I thought our relationship was strictly professional.” Loki asked.  
“Oh,” Steve looked as if he had forgotten the whole Loki as their prisoner fact, “Um, you can just see this as my making this up for last night. That was like forced oversharing. We shouldn't have done that.” He said, a small apologetic smile on his face.

“You needn’t worry,” Loki waved him off, “Stark has already apologized.” Steve looked surprised at that. “Really? Tony? Actually never mind that makes sense, he’s been the friendliest to you since you got here.” 

Steve’s eyes suddenly flickered to Loki’s bandaged hands. “What happened there?”

“That is also nothing,” Loki assured, “They were simply small cuts, nothing more, and Stark took care of them either way.” 

Steve smiled at that, “He’s a good guy, isn’t he? Tony, I mean.” And while Loki knew Steve was talking to him, it felt as if he was intruding on a private moment. Steve obviously liked Tony a lot, despite their quarrels. 

“I haven’t gotten the chance to see for myself, but from what I’ve seen so far, he seems decent, for someone who’s holding me captive anyways.” Loki said. 

“Well you seem kind of decent, for someone who invaded earth, I mean.” Steve teased. 

“I guess we’re even then.” Loki decided. Steve nodded a small smile on his face, stepping out into the hallway,

“Alright well, you can come have breakfast if you want, but you can also stay here and try to understand earth tech too if you want.” And just like Stark, The Captain gave Loki no time to answer as he left immediately after speaking.

These Avengers were strange.

xxx

While Loki had a slightly biased dislike for humans, he definitely did not have one for their tech. Asgardian was much more complex. This was simple and straight to the point. He also enjoyed the flat screens. Holograms gave him headaches. 

Loki had spent the past three hours reading. He had to scroll quite a bit to find a good book but he was now deeply invested in “The Hunger Games”. At first, Loki had laughed at the name- “Sounds more like a book for Volstagg.” He had chuckled -but now, he was fully invested in the tale. The struggles Katniss went through, the controlling capital, even the hunting. Loki was interested in everything but the romance. 

“This is stupid,” He muttered, “She has a battle to win, a little sister and ill mother at home, yet Peeta is her concern? Obviously this ‘Suzanne of Collins’ has never been in the killing fields.”

When Katniss had volunteered as tribute in place of Primrose, Loki felt his mind wander to his older brother. Would Thor ever do that for him? No. Loki would never get picked because Thor would always have been the first to volunteer. A bloodbath with only one crowned winner, gods Thor would love that. “If I ever got picked Thor would probably get mad at me.” Loki chuckled, speaking to no one but himself.

Loki continued to read for the rest of the day, not leaving his room once. And the same happened the next. And the next. And the next.

xxx

It had been four days since Loki had left his room when he heard a knocking at the door. And while Loki was opposed to visitors, he knew that he hadn’t been outside in days and that the person at the door wouldn’t leave if he ignored them. He put the tablet down and shimmied out from under his covers. As the door opened, he was met with a stoic Steve Rogers, who’s eyes widened when he saw him.

“You look horrible-” Steve said, before snapping his mouth shut. Loki squinted at Steve. “Thanks.” He said dryly. 

“Sorry, it’s just… when was the last time you ate? You look like a stick.” He continued before Loki could answer, “And don’t say that night at dinner cause I know for sure you didn’t eat at dinner five nights ago.” Steve interrogated. Loki looked deep in thought at that. “I… I don’t know...:” And suddenly Loki realized it had been a very _very_ long time since he had eaten. 

“You don’t know?” He asked, and suddenly Steve looked a lot more concerned for him than someone should be for their prisoner, “What about when you went back to Asgard?” Loki shook his head. “When you invaded?” Another shake of the head, “After you fell?” Steve asked, and now he looked even more upset. “The last time I recall eating was before Thor was banished.” Loki confessed.

Steve’s expression shifted to one of shock.

“How are you alive!?” Steve almost yelled, eyes twice as big as they had been when he arrived, “Are you sure you aren’t lying unintentionally?” Steve asked. Which Loki thought, was a very stupid question. How does one lie unintentionally?

“I am sure,” he nodded, “I cannot lie.” 

“Oh that’s right, Tony told us about that.” Steve hummed, “But seriously, how are you not dead? I mean, you’re thin enough to have not eaten in like a year but…”

“Gods can survive a much longer time without food or water, that is all.” And while it wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t entirely the truth. The amount of time Loki had spent without food was about the equivalent of a human going almost three weeks without food. And he realized with a slight anxiety, that his form would soon start suffering if he didn’t eat something soon.

“Okay well I’m going to make you eat something asap so don’t fight me on it.” Steve said, determination in his blue eyes. Loki nodded slowly.

“Was that your sole purpose of this visit? To comment on how I look?” The trickster asked.

“Oh right!” Steve’s face lit up, “We have new residents! They’re going to be living with us so we’d like you to make an appearance.” He explained, and Loki wondered where the whole “you are our prisoner, not our friend” act had gone.

“Me?” Loki questioned skeptically, “Me the insane god who tried to take over your planet and you know, controlled your teammate and definitely gave him, what do you midgardians call it, PTSD?”

“Why do you keep mentioning that?” 

“Why _don’t_ you!?” Loki raised his voice, “Five days ago you made it clear that I was your enemy and that you were doing this for my brother. And then, you and Stark suddenly begin acting as if I didn’t do any of that! As if I’m just, living here! I controlled people, I-I killed people! I didn’t care about who or what I destroyed!”

“Well you seem to care a lot now.” Steve said unperplexed. 

“I…” Loki faltered. He hadn’t been expecting Steve to say that.

“You’re like a different person,” Steve started quietly, “You show up and- and you look like a kicked puppy, and we’re mad about it, we are. But you just, don’t do anything! The only thing you’ve done so far is have a panic attack and curl up in a ball and read!” Loki feels his cheeks heat up as he realizes Stark must have told the others about his panic attack, “And… And I don’t know! There’s something wrong with you Loki.” He says, and Loki feels his chest clench in anger and sadness. He _knows_ there’s something wrong with him.

“I- I don’t know what’s wrong with you, none of us do but, something is. You _want_ us to hate you. You keep bringing up the attacks you keep freaking out over small things,” Loki feels panic swell inside him beacause _things are moving too fast_. This is happening too fast. It’s only been five days and yet they act as if they know everything about him. They’re just earthlings they shouldn’t have figured this out this soon.

“I’m only going to ask you this once, because I know you can’t lie,” Steve says, making direct eye contact with him, “Were you fully in control when you invaded earth?”

And everything stops. Because this is all wrong. _Everything_ is all wrong. If this were a story this would be the climax, this would be one of the last chapters, but no, it’s like it’s happening in the first. He can’t even comprehend how they figured it out so fast. So incredibly fast. 

He wants to say yes. He _needs_ to say yes. He can feel the words on his tongue. And yet, 

“No.” He says. And that’s all it takes for Steve to nod, eyes full of sadness. 

“We’ll be expecting you to come say hi to our new members,” Steve says quietly, “you can come out whenever you want.” And then he’s gone. And Loki’s standing in the doorway, alone with his thoughts once more.

xxx

It was his fault, Loki decided.

He wanted to be upset, he wanted to be angry, his weakness had been exposed after all. Yet, a part of him felt… happy. Almost. He hadn’t wanted to kill that many, not to kill innocent children, or mothers and fathers. He had come to terms long ago that the S.H.I.E.L.D agents deaths were inevitable, that they were working for a corrupted organization anyways. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of horror he got when he thought of the innocent people killed by him. And sure _He_ was almost entirely in control, but Loki still felt responsible. _Their blood is on your hands_

And now Steve Rogers knew, well, Steve Rogers knew for sure. It seemed that all the Avengers had had their suspicions. But something was off about how quickly they had figured things out. Someone had to have already known something. He just couldn’t place who and what. He didn’t want to question it. He never got answers he liked.

“Sir,” Jarvis started, and Loki notices even he is acting gentler around him, “the captain would truly enjoy it if you joined them in the common room.”

“Of course spirit,” Loki said. He stood carefully, feeling the room spin in circles as his heart pounded in his head. And he couldn’t tell if it was the anxiety or the fact that he hadn’t eaten in so long. He brushed a strand of hair behind his ear and stood before the mirror. He put a tentative hand to his almost translucent skin. It is only then that he realizes how horrible he truly looks. His eyes were tired and sad, with large bags hanging underneath them. His cheeks were sunken in and his skin was so pale it glowed. He sees the way his hand shakes and realizes that his wrist is nothing more than skin and bone. 

Loki swallowed thickly and moved towards the door. ‘Just don’t think about your appearance’ he thought to himself.

xxx

This, Loki decided, was more than just a few new residents. There were six new people in the common room. He took them in one by one and tried to analyse them. There were two people chattering excitedly by the window, children he realized. The boy had unruly brown hair and a smile brighter than the stars. The girl was giggling loudly and Loki noticed that she beared a striking resemblance to the man standing by the bar. Him and a man with a strange looking cape were chattering away with Bruce. The man who resembled the girl was dressed formally but had a relaxed smile on his face. The man with the cape was stoic as ever as he spoke to the other two men at the bar. 

Next, there was a man in a black suit laughing loudly and swishing around a drink with Tony. Just barely, Loki heard Tony call him “Rhodey”. It must be a nickname.   
Finally, there was a bearded man with a metal arm speaking with Steve. He had a large grin on his face and Loki noticed the way he playfully pushed the captain around. Steve laughed before his eyes met Loki’s. They were the same one’s Loki had seen earlier that day. Full of sadness. Loki felt himself stiffen, he didn’t need this mortal’s pity. 

Despite the pitying glance, Rogers motioned for Loki to join them. Loki walked over hesitantly, thankful the magic hadn’t seen that as a command. 

“Bucky,” Steve said to the man, “This is Loki. Loki, this is Bucky, my friend from the war.” Steve introduced them. Bucky reached out his non-prosthetic arm and shook Loki’s hand. “Nice to meet you Loki.” Bucky said, relaxed grin. 

“Likewise.” Loki smiled, and that was all he could say before a hand clapped over his shoulder. “Hey reindeer games!” Tony said, grin wide on his face. Loki smiled in his general direction before directing his attention to the person beside Stark. The man whom Tony had been speaking to stuck out his hand. Loki shook it. “Colonel James Rhodes, or Rhodey if you’d like.” He smiled, and Loki realized there was a lot of people smiling at him. That was not normal. 

“Captain,” Loki started, voice tight, “May I speak to you for a moment?” He asked, noticing the way all the Avengers eyes met worriedly at that. Steve nodded mutely and they walked into the hallway. Loki could feel everyone’s eyes upon him as the left.

“You told them.” Loki said flatly. Steve blinked.

“Told them what exactly? I tell them a lot of things they’re my friends.”

“Don’t do that,” Loki grumbled, “You told them what I told you! Everyone is acting civil towards me! Even the new people who haven’t even met me!”

“I may have possibly told them everything you said to me.”

“What exactly did you tell them?”

“That the invasion wasn’t your fault.” Steve said, once again unperplexed. Loki groaned loudly.

“And they just believed you!? That’s not even what I told you! I-” Loki stopped mid sentence. “Who in your group is feeding you information? Where are you getting these ridiculous ideas? I don’t understand-” He stopped once more, realization hitting him instantly.

Of course! It was so incredibly obvious now. There was only one person who the Avengers would believe so openly about this. Someone who had been involved in the invasion themselves!

“Barton. He knows something.” Loki looked angrily at Steve, “What did he tell you!?”

“Okay Loki calm down.” Steve tried to coax him. Loki grumbled angrily.

“I will _not_ calm down! Because of whatever lies he told you, you went from hating me to treating me like some- some broken toy! It’s pity. That’s why everyone is acting so careful around me. Because Barton said one thing and you Avengers, with your superhero complexes, decided you needed to treat me like this! Like I’m made of glass!” Loki cried angrily. But he wasn’t done.

“This wasn’t your place to intrude! The only reason my ‘father’ sent me here, was because I destroyed your play toys and killed your people! You have known me for a few days! You don't have any right to try and fix me, to treat me the way you are! I’ve only been standing in that common room for minutes and still noticed the sad looks all your teammates sent me! Even the children pity me! All of you are insufferable! Acting as if pitying me is going to make you better people-”

“Loki that’s enough!” Steve growled out. The magic shut Loki’s mouth instantly.

“You want to know what Clint told us?” Steve asked, “Fine, be my guest.”

“He told us that he remembers your screams. That he remembers you begging and begging some ‘majesty’ to have mercy, remembers you pleading for your life. What he remembers Loki, is you being tortured! You saw into his mind but he saw into yours. You keep saying you aren’t the victim but you were tortured and manipulated and you still act like you’re the villain! None of us even understand why you’re doing this but you are!” He cried. Loki remained silent, eyes wide open in shock.

“I know we’ve only known you for like a week but I also know that you need help. We aren’t trying to be better people, we’re trying to help you and you won’t let us!” Steve yelled. His face softened when he saw the tears welling in Loki’s eyes. “You were tortured Loki.” He almost whispered. “You need help. I don’t know what rules they have where you come from but here on earth being tortured sure as hell doesn’t make you weak. Please Loki, just accept our help.” Steve pleads.

And as tears begin to fall down Loki's face in copious amounts, everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so ugly u guys i'm just rlly bad at writing ;(((((  
> also ik things move way to fast in this   
> don't hate me i just want the comfort part to start lmao


	3. loki is that crow? no this is a raven- i'M caLLinG the PoLiCE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers try and make Loki feel at home and his feelings are a literal mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is kind of all over the place sorry!

“Please Loki, just accept our help.” Steve pleaded as Loki began to cry. With a single blink, the dam of tears that had been building up in his eyes burst open and he was suddenly full on sobbing. Steve felt his palms itch with a need to comfort him, but he held back, sudden physical contact could seriously scare him right now. As he watched worriedly, a couple of worrisome things caught his eyes.

Loki had began to sway on his feet, his eyelids drooping considerably. Steve noticed he looked even paler than before.

“Loki?” Steve asked worriedly. He took a tentative step towards the god when he got no answer. That was when Loki’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward into Steve’s arms. 

“Loki!”

Concerned and confused heads poked around the corner. “Of fuck!” Tony cried, seeing Loki’s unresponsive body. He ran over quickly. 

“What’s happening?” Peter and Shuri peeked around the corner, only to be grabbed by T’Challa and taken back to the common room, whining in protest the whole way.

“Bruce! Come here!” Tony yelled, taking Loki from Steve’s arms and placing him on the ground. The scientist came rushing over, worried expression on his face. 

“What happened?”

xxx

 

The first thing Loki was aware of when he woke, was the incessant beeping coming from his left. His whole body felt heavy, even his eyelids. He squinted as the harsh lights invaded his vision. 

“Jarvis, bring down light levels to twenty five percent please.” A voice called.

“Of course sir.”

When Loki fully opened his eyes, he noticed the look Bruce was giving him. He groaned and threw his head back. “Not you too.”

“Not me too what?”

“The sad eyes.” Loki grumbled.

“The sad eyes?” Bruce repeated, chuckling slightly. He wondered how the god could sound like shakespeare one moment and an eight year old the next.

“The sad eyes.” Loki confirmed, rolling onto his stomach and covering his head the pillow. It was only moments later when he turned around and looked at Bruce confusedly. “What happened?”

“Lokes!” A loud voice cried, entering the room quickly. Loki looked over to see Stark rushing over to the bed. “What the hell man!” He said, and Loki raised a brow. “Please elaborate.”

“You scared all of us half to death when you just passed out like that.” Stark explained, and Loki felt the memories of before he lost consciousness come rushing back. Ah yes, another excellent tantrum on his part. 

“If I’m being honest though, what the fuck?” 

“What now?”

“I can’t believe you…” Stark said, and Loki heard him murmur under his breath, “that long without food…” His eyes snapped up to Loki’s instantly. “I’m going to make you the biggest meal you’ve ever seen-”

“That’s a horrible idea Tony.”

“What?” Tony said, feigning offense at Bruce’s words. 

“Not eating for that long means his stomach shrank, so if he eats too much he can rip a literal hole in his stomach, you want that?” Bruce taunted. 

“No not really,” Stark said, defeated look on his face. Suddenly, the door swung open and Steve was standing in the doorway. At this point, Loki was sure that Steve just liked to stand in doorways. Steve didn’t say anything, he simply stared at Loki. Loki raised his hand as an example, looking over at Bruce.

“The sad eyes.” He said. Steve ruffled slightly, walking over to the bed. “It’s not ‘the sad eyes’ it’s just concern. Don’t tell me no one’s ever been concerned about you.” Steve teased. Loki looked away, going silent. Bruce eyed Tony nervously.

“For real?” Steve asked, eyes widened slightly. Silver wisps of magic furled around Loki’s mouth and the captain felt immediate regret.

“It’s not that no one’s ever been concerned about me… it’s just, not the way you are. Of course my mother cared for my well being but, she wasn’t around much while I grew up, my father kept her far away from me, hoping she wouldn’t get attached. Funny how that failed. My father never had an ounce of care his brittle bones and my brother… he cares, he just, it’s complicated.” Loki said, pointing daggers at Steve.

“Sorry bout that.” The soldier rubbed the back his neck sheepishly.

“How do we turn that off?” Stark asked, interrupting the two.

“The loud machines? I’d very much enjoy that.” Loki nodded. Stark swatted his arm, “Of course not the machines, I’m a genius remember, obviously I know how to turn off my own machines. I _meant_ the magic.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“The magic, reindeer games, how do we turn it off?” Tony asked. Loki laughed at that. “You can’t ‘turn off’ magic, Stark.”

“Fine, stop it, cancel it out, I don’t know, get rid of it.” 

“You can’t.” Loki deadpanned. 

“What!?” Bruce flinched as Tony yelled, dropping all his papers. 

“Only the Allfather can stop the spell, and norns know he’ll never do that.” Loki chuckled dryly.

“Why not?”

“The Allfather detests me.” Loki said, and Steve frowned. “Isn’t the Allfather _your_ father?”

“He did raise me but… he’s not my father. He… he hates me.” Loki said softly. Tony turned to him with eyes that held much too much understanding, and Bruce’s fist clenched at his side. 

There was a long silence and Loki began to wonder if he had said something he shouldn’t have. A sudden realization peaked his mind and he turned to Steve.

“Captain, may I ask you something?”

“You can call me Steve, Loki,” The soldier chuckled, “And of course you can ask me a question.”

“You said Barton remembered… things…” And Loki felt the air in the room tense. “Yet he was just as hostile towards me as you all were at the start… why is that?” He asked. And the three others in the room realized that Loki was being vulnerable with them even though he barely knew them. It made them see just how deep the trauma ran, just how desperate Loki was for consolation.

“Clint said that things were fuzzy. That all he could remember at first were screams.” Steve started, “But after you moved in, things started getting clearer. The memories he tried to push away came back and he realized what he had seen. That’s when he told us. He’s been pretty worried about you.”

Loki blinked. “He has?” 

Steve’s phone buzzed and he looked down, “Uh yeah, he was.” He said distractedly. He looked up and showed what Loki presumed to be a text from someone, to Tony and Bruce.

“Alright Lokes,” Tony clapped him on the shoulder, “We gotta blast but that’s actually a good thing cause you need some rest. That little tube there is feeding you nutrients and after you rest a bit more we’ll get you eating a little bit of food.” Tony leaned down and whispered in Loki’s ear. “And by that I mean a buffet.” Loki chuckled. 

Bruce took his medical folder and hit it over Tony’s head. “Let’s go.” Tony rubbed his head while pouting slightly. Loki couldn’t help but grin as Tony mouthed the word ‘buffet’ on his way out. 

 

xxx

The next time Loki awoke, it was to two big brown eyes staring into his own. The trickster didn’t say anything, he simply blinked and wondered what in hel was happening. “I think he’s awake.” The owner of the eyes whispered. There was a thwack and the person moved their head from Loki’s field of vision quickly. “Ow!” The same person whined. 

“If you don’t want to get hit then you shouldn’t put your face in front of his like that.” A girl chided, “You probably scared him.” Loki blinked a couple more times before sitting up. The two children from the night before were watching him with wide eyes. They looked about fifteen or sixteen. That meant that in human years they weren’t much younger than him.

“Hi I’m Peter!” The boy blurted out, extending his hand. Loki shook it hesitantly, “And I am Loki.” He said, now a little more awake. He turned to the girl giggling at the exchange. “I’m Shuri.” She said, a large grin on her face. He nodded at her, smiling back. “Nice to meet you both.”

Jarvis spoke suddenly, “Mr. Stark has been alerted of you wake and is on his way to greet you, Mr. Laufeyson.” Both teens’ eyes widened. “Shit!” Peter squeaked. 

Loki frowned. “Why is that a bad thing?” He asked. “Because,” Peter ducked under a table, trying to hide, “Me and Shuri are supposed to be upstairs right now,” He yelped as he accidentally knocked a vial off the table, “We just snuck down to see you!”

“Me?” Loki asked confusedly, “Why?”

“Because we wanted to meet you.” Shuri chuckled. “We didn’t get a chance to speak last night.”

“What are you two doing in here?” A voice came from the doorway. Shuri and Peter froze instantly. The spoke all at once, interrupting each other in a flurry of excuses.

“Mr.Stark we were just-”

“My brother said-”

“Rhodey said we could-”

“It was Peter’s idea-”

“It was Shuri’s idea!”

“Jeez,” Stark said, rubbing his temple, “You kids are so loud, tone it down will ya?” They snapped their mouths shut instantly. Tony walked over to the cot nonchalantly, “Neither of you are in trouble,” He chuckled, “As long as _you_ don’t tell Bruce you were messing with his medical machines.” He said pointedly at Shuri. She chuckled nervously, shoving a clump of tangled wires behind her back. Tony turned his back to the two as he looked at Loki.

“How ya feeling Lokes? Sorry bout that, kids ya know?” He said, rolling his eyes. Loki chuckled. “I am doing well, Stark.” Tony nodded at that, turning to look at the monitor.

“Well your vitals and everything are good,” He said, “You can probably go back to your room or come and visit us now if you want. Right after we feed you, that is.” Loki smiled, “Thank you.”

Stark tapped the pen for the medical charts on his lip twice before jotting something else down. “Oh!” He looked up suddenly, “It’s Thursday!” 

Shuri, Peter, and Loki all watched Tony carefully, expecting him to elaborate. He didn’t. “And that means?”

“It’s board game night! Holy shit-” He stopped abruptly, eyeing the children, “I didn’t just say that… I _meant_ holy… smokes! Yeah, Holy smokes Lokes you’re gonna love it! We just get together and play board games and drink alcohol! Apple juice for these two, obviously.” He pointed at Peter and Shuri. “Hey!” Peter squawked. “I’m allowed to drink in Canada!” He said. And Loki wondered why this “Canada” would allow children no more than the Asgardian equivalent of seven hundred and fifty to drink alcohol. If Loki was not of age yet, then certainly Peter and Shuri should not be.

Tony made a groaning noise as he stretched his arms and shoulders, and Loki had to remember that Tony was old enough to be Laufey, in human years , that is. He patted Loki on the shoulder, something he seemed quite fond of doing, and exited the room without another word. 

“He’s quite useless isn’t he?” Shuri asked, perplexed look on her face. Loki nodded while Peter swiped at her arm. “He is not! He’s just… I dunno weird.” Peter pouted. Loki nodded once more.

“He is quite weird. He’s like an old man with the mind of a toddler.” Loki said, and Shuri giggled. 

“This one, I like.” She nodded in his direction. Peter looked like wanted to laugh but there was something in his mouth, possibly a frog. It was most likely that while what Loki and Shuri had said was funny, Peter had major respect for Tony. 

“I’m flattered.” Loki said flatly. Shuri looked at him pointedly, “Was that sarcasm?” 

“Of course not.” Loki grinned, and the three of them laughed.

xxx

“Any allergies Lokes?” Tony said while rummaging through a cupboard. Loki had been called to the kitchen minutes ago. As he looked around, he noticed that the kitchen was also connected to what they called a living room, and that there were no walls intersecting the two rooms. Clint, Natasha, and Steve were seated on the couch, watching something Loki was not familiar with. Tony was getting food for him as he danced around the kitchen, humming loudly despite the cries of annoyance from the movie goers. It was all quite domestic Loki realized. 

“Allergies?” He asked. He had tried to familiarize himself with many Midgardian things throughout the time he had been here, but he definitely was not familiar with everything. 

“Uh, yeah, something you can’t eat, something you would get sick after eating.” Tony explained, still throwing food items left and right.

“Cucumber,” Clint called from the couch before Loki could answer and his eyes met Loki’s. He smiled at Loki. His eyes were tired but, it was a comforting smile. Loki smiled back. 

“Cucumber?” Tony repeated, removing his head from the fridge to look at Loki. Loki nodded. 

“Jarvis, remember that Loki’s allergic to cucumber so no one accidentally kills him.” Tony requested, not taking his eyes off something in the fridge. “Of course sir.”

With a jumble of confused and annoyed muttering Tony pulled his phone from his pocket. A hologram screen of Bruce showed up in front of him. “What is it Tony?”

“Okay so, how much food should Loki be eating?” Tony asked.

“How much were you planning on giving him?” Bruce asked suspiciously. 

“Like a box of Kraft Dinner?”

“Tony no!”

“What?” Tony said, “Why is that wrong?” Bruce sighed.

“Just give him an apple and a glass of water Tony,” Bruce rubbed his temple and Loki wondered just how much grief the Avengers caused him on the daily.

“That’s literally nothing!” Tony cried. “Tony.” Bruce warned. He seemed so much like a father in this situation albeit only being two years older than Tony.

“Fine.” Tony grumbled. He reached over to what Loki assumed was a bowl for their fruits and grabbed an apple. Just as he was about to hand it to Loki, his head snapped towards the window.

“Holy fuck!” Tony cried, ignoring the look he got from Steve, “That is the biggest fucking crow I’ve ever seen!” The three Avengers on the couch rolled their eyes but looked just as surprised when they turned their heads.

Loki immediately made a beeline for the window. He opened it despite their protests. The god extended an arm and the bird happily hopped onto it. “He’s not a crow, Tony,” Loki chided, “He’s a raven, and his name is Munin.” He stroked it’s feathers gently. “What news do you bring, friend?”

“I bring a letter from prince Thor, your majesty,” Munin spoke. “And Asgards highest regards.” 

Loki took the letter grumbling, “Highest Regards,” He mocked. Munin pecked his arm angrily. “Ow!” Loki cried, shaking the raven off his arm, “Munin!” 

“The Allfather may not love you, but prince Thor and queen Frigga do, don’t be so full of anger child, you’ll get wrinkles.” The raven advised. “What would you know about wrinkles, you’re a raven.” Loki muttered. 

The bird ruffled slightly, “Fine then, I’ll visit once again when you aren’t in such a sour mood.” He perched on the windowsill, ready to take off. “All the more time for me to talk to Hugin.” Loki teased. 

As the raven flew away, Loki couldn’t resist poking his head out of the window, “Fly safe!” He called after the rapidly shrinking shape. He pulled his head back inside chuckling lightly, bantering with Munin, no matter how short their conversations were, always put him in a good mood. He fiddled with the letter in his hands, running his thumb over the royal insignia. He turned around to see four shocked faces. 

“Did that crow,” Tony started, “Just fucking talk!?”

“Of course,” Loki said nonchalantly, taking the apple from Tony as he strode past him, “And I told you he’s not a crow, he’s a raven.” Loki corrected. 

“Sure seemed to be in a rush to leave,” Clint said. Natasha nodded. Loki sighed.

“Munin is under the reign of Odin, he most likely had specific directions not to speak to me,” Loki said. 

“He gave you a letter from Thor?” Natasha asked, nodding her head at the envelope in his hands. 

“That he did.” Loki said, staring at the letter. As he stared, he tried desperately to feel anger, but all he felt was longing. He felt as if he was five hundred again and missing his brother. It was dumb, he knew. He should be angry. He felt as though he should be furious. But he wasn’t, and Loki doubted he could do anything to change it. 

“You can read it as soon as you eat that apple.” Tony said, and for some reason even that made Loki’s chest feel warm. 

These Avengers cared for him already. The day before he had been adamant on hating them but, he couldn’t think of any way that he would benefit from being rude to them. They offered him nothing but kindness, what could he gain from angering them? Nothing. But despite all that, he could still hear the voice in his head, warning him;

_You musn’t trust them. This is all a trick. They’re going to betray you the minute you feel safe around them. Just like he did._

_You’re wrong._ Loki insisted. _You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You’re wrong._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i felt like i needed to validate Loki's change in behavior at the end here and i also hope that none of the characters were ooc jjsdjshsj


	4. it is game night my dudes,,, aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> game night takes a turn and loki learns abt vines :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is also a bit everywhere sorry!

_Dearest Loki,  
How do you fare? Life on asgard without you is, different. I do not enjoy it. I am not having fun without your tricks. I find my mind wandering to you at all times. Are you safe? Are you uninjured? Have you killed any of my friends yet? I would hope not, though, I wouldn’t be surprised. Hopefully they have already taught you things like friendship and kindness. I know you knew those things already but… you don’t seem to use them… _

_Mother misses you. She still speaks so incredibly highly of you. You should have seen what she did to the last man who spoke ill of you._

_What you did took a toll on her, she still believes that you are innocent despite what everyone says. I’ve never seen her as distressed as she was when you fell that day._

_I don’t normally write letters and I am unsure of what else to write…_

_Sincerely, your brother_

Loki sighed as he read the letter over again. He knew his brother wasn’t the best at writing letters but… he couldn’t even understand if Thor was mad at him or not. Other than the fact that Thor thought he was going to murder all of his friends, Loki was pretty sure Thor wasn’t too concerned with his wellbeing. 

He knew that the Loki under Thanos’ control had done and said some horrible things but, had it truly been that bad? Loki really needed to convince Thor that he was back.

“Thor… You used to be so easy to understand.” He muttered. Loki thought back to how he would have reacted to that letter had he still been under _His_ control.

When Loki was under the influence of the mind stone, it hadn’t been complete control. The stone had been feasting on his emotions, harvesting and amplifying them. When _He_ had found him, Loki’s emotions had been a mess. He was vulnerable and weak. He had already been feeling angry and betrayed, lost and afraid. The mind stone had made him angrier, and much more afraid. While under its influence, he had become like a wounded animal, desperate to survive, willing to do anything. While amplifying his anger, it had altered his memories, changed just certain details. For instance, he had remembered Thor pushing him from the Bifrost, though, now free from the stone, he knew that was a lie. 

If Loki had still been under its influence while reading the letter, he most likely would have been a flurry of rage. But now, he just felt homesick. Homesick and sad. He missed his brother. He missed his mother. He missed the villagers too. 

The royals had always been very against him and all that he stood for. What, with his feminine like practice of magic and thin pale physique. But the villagers, they had loved Loki. He would often spend time walking around the village and just being with them. He’d play with the children, speak with elders, help the single parents. Perhaps it had been his own need to feel like he had a purpose, his own need to validate himself, but he truly had felt like he had meaning. The villagers loved him, and he them. 

Loki straightened his posture at his desk as he took his quill and dipped it in the ink. He remembered the look on Tony’s face when he had asked him for a quill, ink, and parchment. _“And you say Earth is primitive!”_ He carefully placed the quill on the parchment, and thought out what he would say even more carefully. 

_Dearest Thor,_

_I fare well. Earth has been treating me as such. You may have to reread what I am about to write, but please know my next words hold my utmost sincerity. I know you most likely will not believe me, but The Avengers and I have been getting along incredibly well. I believe that even after a couple of Midgardian days I would dare call them my friends. Albeit not being a long time, it is indeed a long story and I will not go into any detail. I do not wish for this letter to drag on so I will put it simply._

_I am sorry for my actions. I miss you and mother. This is a drastic change from the last time you saw me, I am aware, but there is much untold. The next time I see you in person, I will explain it all, I promise. For now, just know that I truly care for you and mother. Please send her my best wishes and my love._

_Sincerely, Loki_

His brow furrowed at the end. He bit his lip and scratched it out hastily.

_Sincerely, your brother_

Loki laughed out loudly at that. Thor was going to think his real brother had been kidnapped. It went to show just how much someone could change under the influence of someone else. He wondered if the letter was too much. If he was being too nice. _No,_ he thought. He needed it to be clear to Thor that he was different. That he was back to how he used to be.

“Sir,” Jarvis piped up, startling Loki slightly, “Mr. Stark has said that it is time for game night and requests your presence.” 

“Thank you, Spirit.” Loki nodded, standing and looking around his room. He almost had a heart attack when he saw the face peering through the window. “Norns, Hugin, you scared me half to death.” He muttered, opening the window. 

“My apologies, your highness.” The raven bowed. Loki swatted at him. “Don’t bow to me, you know that’s not necessary.” Loki grumbled. 

“My apologies, your highness.” The raven repeated, bowing once more, and if Ravens could smirk Loki was sure that Hugin would be doing just that.

“Fine,” Loki sniffed, “If you’re going to be that way,” He thrusted the letter towards the Raven, “Deliver this and that will be all.” He said, turning away dramatically. The bird chuckled and nipped at Loki’s tunic playfully. And Before Loki could even fully turn, around he was flying away. 

xxx

“Lokes there you are!” Tony said, waving him over, “What took you so long?”

Loki looked around. There was one big table with twelve seats. Most were seated at the table but a few, like T’Challa, Tony, and Clint, were standing by the bar. The people at the table had a flat colorful piece of cardboard laid out in front of them, and were all chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Loki made his way over to the bar where Tony was still beckoning him.

“I was having a small discussion with Hugin,” Loki said, nodding in Clint’s direction and smiling as the archer greeted him.

“I thought he left,” Tony frowned.

“No no, that’s Munin,” Loki corrected, “Hugin is my father's- Odin’s other Raven.” He clarified. Tony nodded thoughtfully, though it seemed that he still didn’t understand.

“Oh!” Tony said excitedly, he clapped a hand on the man whom Loki still hadn’t met’s back. “This is T’Challa, king of Wakanda, Shuri’s brother.” Tony introduced him.

“T’Challa this is Loki, from Asgard and stuff, Thor’s brother.” Tony said. T’Challa nodded and smiled, extending his arm. Loki shook his hand and smiled back. “It is nice to meet you.”

Loki didn’t know how or why there were suddenly so many new Avengers, but he also didn’t mind. He had met all of them, save for the strange man with a cape from the night before, but he wasn’t in the room. Before Loki could ask about the man, Tony turned to him with a bottle of alcohol in hand.

“Want a drink Lokes?” Tony asked, stepping behind the bar, “We got scotch, gin, vodka, I don’t really know what alcohol they drink on Asgard but…” Tony trailed off deep in thought, as if trying to remember something. 

“No no,” Loki chuckled, “I am afraid I am not of age.” He declined politely. 

Loki noticed the whole room freeze as he spoke. Conversations stopped at the table and Loki noticed the way Clint had froze up completely. He didn’t know if he had said something wrong. Was it an offense to decline a drink on Midgard? He really hoped not.

“What did you say?” Clint said, watching him with worried eyes. And Loki had to wonder why the archer looked so startled, why _all_ of them looked so startled.

“I am not yet of drinking age, for very special occasions I am allowed perhaps a very small glass of mead but…” Loki explained, feeling nervous under everyone’s gaze.

“Wait!” Peter said, getting out of his chair quickly, despite everyone else’s shock, “How old are you then?”

Loki pondered it for a moment, “Nine hundred and two I believe,” He said, they did not react and he realized that Asgardian years meant nothing to them, “About eighteen in your human years,” He clarified. He noticed everyone’s different reaction, though he didn’t understand why they were acting like so.

Tony almost dropped his drink, eyes widening. Natasha’s relaxed smirk dropped from her face and she returned to her stoic persona. Steve’s jaw tightened and he looked back at Tony with horrified eyes. Rhodey tapped on the table nervously, eyes shifting from one person to another, most likely trying to see their reactions. T’Challa looked confused but also concerned, biting his lip slightly. Bruce’s lips thinned, his chest rising in and out in calming breaths. Bucky had a reaction much like Steve’s, jaw tightening and wide eyes. Peter and Shuri looked excited it seemed. And Clint, Clint looked like he was both furious and horrified.

“You’re… Just a kid…” He said hesitantly, eyeing Nat carefully. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Loki asked, and he suddenly felt very afraid.

“No no,” Natasha reassured, “We’re just surprised is all, you look much older.” She explained, shooting Clint a look. _Well, torture does that to people_ Loki thought bitterly to himself.

“Eighteen!” Peter repeated, looking at his friend, “Shuri! That’s how old we are! We’re a trio now!” He laughed excitedly, despite the worried glance he got from Bruce. Shuri giggled, “We are!”

“You’re eighteen?” Loki asked, “I thought the two of you were fifteen possibly sixteen!” He cried. Both teens had a mildly offended look on their faces. T’Challa chuckled, “Told you.” He teased. Shuri stuck her tongue out at him and everyone lapsed into silence.

It seemed Tony noticed the tension as he spoke up hastily. “Enough chit chat!” Tony barked out, clapping his hands together excitedly and walking towards the table. “Time to play Monopoly!” 

Loki was glad for the break in tension.

“I thought we were going to play Cards Against Humanity!” Peter complained. 

“ _You_ ,” Tony said pointedly, “Are too young to play that game. And so are you two,” He gestured in between Shuri and Loki. 

“Now Loki,” He said, grin wide on his face, “Do you know how to play?” Loki shook his head.

Tony chuckled darkly, scaring Loki slightly, “We’re gonna have _so_ much fun.”

 

xxx

It had been hours since the game had ended and the teens were now in their rooms. The adult Avengers were sitting the common room, a heavy silence weighing over them. 

“Eighteen…” Clint muttered, “Fucking eighteen!”

“He’s been tortured, disowned, stripped of his magic… jesus…”

“He’s a confusing kid too… It’s like one minute he just wants us to hold him and tell him it’s alright and the next moment, he thinks we’re going to hurt him.” Steve said.

“Trust issues.” Natasha said simply. “He’s just a kid and he wants us to be the good guys. We’re telling him we’re the good guys. So that little kid part of him is going to believe us one hundred percent, even if he doesn’t want to.” Steve nodded at that, Tasha was good at analysing people. If that’s what she said it was then that’s what it was.

“So what do we do?”

“What do you mean _’What do we do’_ ?” Clint said, a little too defensively. 

“Obviously we aren’t going to do anything bad to him,” Steve reassured the archer, “I mean how do we treat him?”

“Well, just like Peter and Shuri I guess,” Tony shrugged, “Just a bit more carefully. You know, watch for triggers and stuff.”

“And be careful what we ask him,” Steve added, “He can’t lie so we shouldn’t be jerks about it.”

“Do we know any of his triggers?” Natasha asked, looking around the room. Most eyes zeroed in on Clint. He breathed in deeply.

“There are obviously the basics; don’t talk about torture, the tesseract, etcetera. But also try to avoid talking about space. He… He fell through a rip in time and space for an eternity…” Clint said hesitantly, not knowing whether he should share that information.

“Like he was in space?”

“No,” Clint shook his head, “It’s like a tear in our universe, it’s just dark and cold. Sound doesn’t exist. Time doesn’t exist.” The archer tried to explain.

“How’d he get out?” Tony questioned curiously, despite some of the horrified faces around the table. It seemed Tony’s need for knowledge was helping distract him from what Clint was telling them.

“He… He was found by someone. I don’t know who but… That was the person who tortured him…” Clint trailed off. He knew it was important for the Avengers to know these things, but something about just sharing this information without Loki’s knowing just felt… wrong. “Can we not talk about this anymore? I shouldn’t really be the one telling this, it’s not my story to tell.”

Steve nodded, “I think we’re good. We _should_ be good. Just… Just don’t bring those things up, but don’t treat him like he’s fragile, he hates that.”

They nodded in collective silence.

xxx

The following day was eventful, to say the least.

“So,” Peter clapped his hands together, pacing in front of Shuri and Loki, who were seated on Loki’s bed. He paced as if he was describing a plan for battle. “Now that we know you’re our age, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about being a teen.” He said, hands still clapped together, only now they were pointed at Loki. 

“How long will this take?” Loki asked, eyeing the two nervously.

“Not important,” Peter waved hastily, “What _is_ important, is that you become an official gen Z teen.”

“Wouldn’t I have had to be born in the 2000’s-” The god was interrupted by a series of shushing noises. 

“He’s trying to say he’s going to update you on internet culture.” Shuri giggled. She suddenly got a very excited look on her face, standing up as quick as possible, “We need to take you shopping! To give you the official hipster look!” She cried, and Peter nodded excitedly.

“I don’t even know what ‘hipster’ means,” Loki sighed. 

xxx

“The fact that you are quizzing me on this does not calm my nerves.” Loki grumbled looking at the two.

“No no no, I’m convinced you’re gonna do great!” Shuri said, smile wide on her face, “And it’s an oral quiz! Those are much better.”

“Now, question one,” Peter started, “What is a meme?” Loki sighed.

“The technical term is an amusing or interesting item, such as a captioned picture or video, or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media,” He quoted word for word, “but, you two wanted me to describe it as; something really funny that honestly doesn’t make sense and lives for like a day.” He said.

Peter eyes widened, “You remembered the exact words of the technical term. How?”

“I’ve always been able to memorize things instantly. I see something and it’s in my brain forever.” Loki shrugged, “It’s only with things I see though, I cannot remember what you tell me word for word.”

Peter looked at Shuri, “Photographic memory,” He said breathlessly.

“This is great!” She cried. 

“Okay, can you give us an example of a meme?”

Loki nodded his head, “Certainly. There are dead memes like Harambe, which we don’t care for, but then there are dead memes like Pepe the frog, which will always be a classic. There are memes from around 2010 that are ‘cringey’ and we don’t associate with, that we’ll _never_ associate with. The most recent meme, is one of our very own resident, Steve Rogers.”

Shuri giggled and clapped excitedly, “Excellent!”

“Question number two, explain a vine.”

“A short video, usually 5 to 10 seconds long of compiled clips of random stuff. They are frequently posted on social websites such as facebook, twitter etcetera, due to the app ‘dying’. They are most frequently reposted in compilations titled ‘rip vine’.”

Peter nodded, “Can you tell us some of your favourite vines?”

“I very much enjoy the one where the young maiden said ‘I’m a bad bitch you can’t kill me’ and I also enjoyed the ‘road work ahead? Uh yeah i sure hope it does’ vine. They were quite comical.” Loki chuckled. 

“This is so weird,” Peter whispered. Shuri nodded, “It’s like teaching William Shakespeare.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kinda cringey but there isn't rlly a way to define memes without making it cringey jdjsjdjs
> 
> Anyways I hope you all enjoyed it and that you have an amazing day/evening!


	5. Loki? Loki? ,,, Oh ma fuckin gawd he fuckin ded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go very very wrong very very fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rlly didn't know how to start this chap so just pretend the start of this chapter didn't happen it's rlly uglee
> 
> this chapter's rlly rushed but I wanna make sure to get a lot of chapters out before my finals start in a few weeks jdjsjhds sorry

_Things were not alright_ Loki had decided. 

But he had known this, or something like this would happen eventually. All he had to do was keep it together.

“Shit,” He breathed out, pressing a hand on his chest. He shuffled into the kitchen, swaying slightly on his feet. The god felt felt a tightness in his chest and struggled to breathe. His wrists ached so bad he thought his hands might fall off. _Relax,_ he said to himself, _you knew this was going to happen_. 

“Loki?” A voice said, breaking him from his thoughts. Loki looked to see a blurry Steve Rogers in front of him, face concerned and eyes wide. “Loki are you okay?”

That was all he heard before he felt a searing pain in his wrists and chest. He doubled over coughing madly. He felt cold creeping up onto him, he was freezing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a voice from somewhere, he couldn’t really tell what was going on. When the coughing ceased, he felt a warm stickiness on his hand. He slowly brought the trembling hand to his face. Blood. _That_ , he hadn’t been expecting. Panicked shouts were the last thing he remembered before he let himself slip away.

xxx

Something was wrong, the Avengers knew it. Weeks had passed since Loki had moved in, and while his mood had greatly improved, his physical health had not. 

Some things were great, like how Loki had become slightly more sure of himself, most likely with the help of Shuri and Peter. He cracked jokes and they figured once the god was more comfortable with them and more recovered, he’d probably start pulling pranks again. He seemed less afraid of them, more trusting. It made them happy. They had grown incredibly close to the god already. 

But but some things were the opposite of great. Loki looked to be getting sicker every day. His hair was falling out, his skin was growing paler, he was constantly shivering despite sweating profusely, his hands shook occasionally, and no matter how much they made him eat, he kept losing weight. Tony had brought it up but Loki had shut him down as soon as he started. Steve had voiced his concern and Loki had simply brushed it off, saying it was nothing. Even though they knew it wasn’t nothing.

And while they had the power to make Loki tell them what was wrong, they would never do that. Loki hated it when the magic took control of him. And they respected that. The last thing they needed to do was to disrespect a traumatized child’s wish to speak freely and without being controlled or forced into it.

The worst of it was a sunday morning. Nothing had seemed off that day, everything was normal. Well, as normal as things could get for a tower full of overpowered idiots.

It was around breakfast when Loki had walked into the room. Clint, Nat, and Steve were seated at the table, Tony was sitting on the counter, reading something on his Starkpad. They all greeted him halfheartedly without looking up, still tired from the night before most likely. The only one that did look up, was Steve. The captain almost did a double take when he saw the trickster. Loki had looked ill the day before, but it was nothing compared to this. He looked like he was about to drop dead.

“Loki?” Steve asked, drawing all attention to the god. Clint immediately stopped what he was doing to see Loki, his somewhat parental instincts kicking in. Tony had turned with a frown, worry in his eyes. Nat watched closely, a hint of concern on her face.

“Loki are you okay?”

Instead of an answer, Loki began to cough. Over the past weeks, Loki had been having multiple coughing fits. They became more and more violent every time, but this was the worst they had ever seen it. The loud coughs brought Loki to his knees as they wracked his tiny frame. The short breaks he got in between coughs were spent shivering on the floor.

“Shit!” Tony cried, hopping from the counter and racing over. The other followed suit. “It’s okay,” Natasha soothed, putting a hand on the teens shoulder hoping to ease the coughing.

Loki pulled a trembling hand away from his mouth, eyes wide with shock. Natasha paled as she saw what his hand was coated in. “Is that?” Steve asked, though already knowing the answer. Natasha nodded. “Fuck…” Tony breathed.

Clint instantly scooped Loki into his arms. “Medbay now!” Natasha commanded. “Tony get Bruce and Shuri!”

Loki let himself go limp in Clint’s arms, bloodied hand falling at his side. 

xxx

“Someone tell me the symptoms!” Bruce cried as Shuri began hooking Loki up to the machines and Clint set him down on the medical cot. 

“Tightness in chest, difficulty breathing, wheezing, dizziness, coughing up blood.” Nat said, not missing a beat. 

“His airway’s closing up!” Bruce cursed loudly. Tony, Steve, and Peter, having no medical training, stood to the side, worried expressions never wavering.

“Difficulty breathing… coughing up blood…” Shuri repeated, muttering to herself. It seemed as if her and Bruce realized something at the same time, both snapping their necks towards each other simultaneously.

“Pulmonary Edema!” They said at once, before Shuri’s brow furrowed once more. “It could also be a Pulmonary Embolism…”

“Or something magic,” Bruce said, face paling a worrying amount. “This could be some magic alien sickness we don’t know about!” He bit his lip and Shuri cursed under her breath.

Tony looked to the shivering form on the bed with an unmeasurable amount of sadness in his eyes. Loki looked so small, so weak. Pale as the moon and wheezing in the little bed. Tony felt his heart clench as he watched the teen struggle to breathe. 

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw a flurry of movement from outside. His neck whipped in it’s direction, but there was nothing there. He turned back, eyeing the window wearily. Then, it happened again, this time more clearly. Tony saw a blur of black pass by the window. He ran over to the window as fast as he could, despite Peter’s confused chirps. 

Tony had never been so grateful to see a giant crow’s face peering into the window in his life. “Oh thank god!” He cried, opening the window. The bird squawked slightly. “I need you to get Thor,” He said to the bird, “Your prince, I need you to like, physically get him to come here. It’s urgent. Do you understand?” He asked, still not believing he was giving orders to a bird. It watched him for a moment, black eyes staring at him wide open. Then, it took off.

“That better have been the right bird, and not some random crow,” Tony muttered worriedly as he closed the window.

“Raven,” Loki corrected, “Munin’s a raven.” He wheezed, blood dribbling out the corner of his mouth. He then went into another coughing fit, crimson bubbling in his throat.

“Hey,” Natasha chided, putting a hand on Loki’s cheek, “No speaking alright? Don’t speak just focus on breathing,” She said as Shuri gently placed an oxygen mask over his bloodied lips. “Can you do that?” The spy asked, despite knowing he couldn’t talk with the mask. Eyes drooping heavily, Loki managed to nod slowly. Nat smiled and squeezed his hand once. 

“Why’s there so much blood?” Peter asked, tears welling in his eyes, “Is he going to die!?”

“Hey hey,” Tony said, standing in front of Peter so that he couldn’t see his friend on the cot, “Don’t think like that, alright? Lokes is gonna be just fine.” He reassured, putting a hand on the spiderlings shoulder. The billionaire vaguely noticed that the captain was on the phone. Peter nodded, still shuddering. 

Then, the monitors steady beeps became rapid and frantic. “Fuck!” Clint cursed loudly. All heads whipped to where Shuri was desperately looking at the monitors, tears in her eyes. 

“BP is two hundred and ten over one twenty!” She cried hurriedly, “Doctor Banner what do we do!?” She asked, letting the panic consume her. Normally, Shuri was a very skilled medic. Even now, in her frantic state, she was still incredibly knowledgeable and talented. But Loki was an alien, and they had no idea how to treat him.

That was when the whole tower shook. Loud booming could be heard overhead. “Damn, that bird can fly fast.” Tony said, looking up at the ceiling.

Thor burst in through the doors, panic etched into his features. “What is wrong with my brother!?” He cried, looking to his friends for answers. 

“We don’t know- _Fuck!_ he’s crashing!” Clint said, eyes widening in horror. Bruce checked the machines frantically, searching for the reason this was happening. Nat grabbed Loki’s hand once more, she didn’t want him to feel alone.

Steve, who had been off to the side on the phone, whose eyes had been flicking over to the trickster worriedly the whole time, muttered a quick thank you and hung up instantly. He looked impatient, as if waiting for something.

An orange portal suddenly opened and the captain’s face flooded with relief. The caped man from weeks ago walked through and made a beeline for the cot. “Strange?” Tony asked, “Can he help?”

“He can _try_.” Steve said, face flushed with worry. 

“It’s the bracelets.” Stephen said at once, and all eyes zeroed in on the silver bands wrapped around Loki’s wrists. “We have to take them off immediately. Do you know how?” He asked Thor.

“I-” Thor stuttered before his eyes widened and he nodded frantically. Everyone in the room, including the newly added confused and panicked T’Challa, Bucky, and Rhodey, stared intently and watched Thor remove them. They had been expecting a spell, perhaps lightning, but Thor simply grabbed the bracelets and ripped them apart.

But the flatlining didn’t stop.

The room was silent, save for the constant beep, horrified eyes watched the still body on the cot. Peter felt wet hot tears rolling down his cheeks, but all he could do was stare. Shuri felt her breath hitch, not believing what she saw. Thor shook his head horrified, because _That should have worked._ Tony and Steve stared numbly, losing all feeling. Natasha squeezed the hand she was holding tightly, closing her eyes. Clint went rigid, watching with unbelieving eyes. Strange’s brow furrowed, watching the monitors closely. Bruce took rapid calming breaths, trying to soothe the rage he felt. And all the three in the doorway could do was stare in shock because they had walked in just in time to see the god flatline.

And then

_Beep._

Everyone’s heads lifted in newfound shock. And it happened again.

_Beep._

Shuri let a relieved sob escape her throat.

_Beep._

Peter smiled, happy tears falling from his face.

_Beep._

Thor laughed loudly, despite still being in a sense of shock because that had happened much too fast.

 _Beep._

Steve and Tony looked at each other, relief and happiness so clear in their faces. Strange nodded slowly, that was what he had expected. 

_Beep._

Natasha ran her thumb over Loki’s hand, a small smile on her face. Clint let out all the air he didn’t know he had been holding in, relief flooding all his senses. 

_Beep._

T’Challa smiled, Rhodey chuckled, and Bucky grinned, despite still being very confused, they were just grateful Loki was alive.

“He’s okay.” Shuri said breathlessly, “He’s okay.”

xxx

“Please friends,” Thor urged, “Tell me what transpired for you to become so close to my brother.”

They were seated in the common room, the events of the day still weighing down heavy on them. Steve eyed Clint wearily, should they tell him? Was it even their place to say anything? But then they saw the look on Thor’s face, and saw how desperate and tired he looked. The god was most likely still slightly shocked. One moment he’s in Asgard, the next, his brother is flatlining in front of him.

“Answer my questions first.” Tony said, a strange look on his face. Thor nodded hesitantly.

“Your dad put those bracelets on Loki, correct?” The billionaire asked, and everyone immediately knew where this was going. But no one made any attempt to stop it. They were just as angry. Thor nodded. 

“The bracelets that almost just killed him,” Tony elaborated, even though he already had his answer. Thor nodded once more. 

“And if this, Allfather, really knows everything, then he knew that taking away Loki’s magic would kill him?” Thor’s eyes widened.

“I.. I don’t know.” Thor sighed. “I don’t know.” He said once more, and the Avengers noticed how torn he looked. 

“That… That’s okay.” Tony said, not having expected that answer. “Can you answer something else for me?” Thor nodded once again.

“Why could you just rip them off like that? Could we have done that all along?”

Thor shook his head. “Only someone with the blood of Odin can remove them. Your efforts would have been useless.”

“Blood of Odin,” Rhodey repeated, “Doesn’t Loki have the blood of Odin? He’s your brother.”

“While Loki and I are brothers, he is not my brother by blood.” Thor explained, and the original Avengers vaguely remembered Thor saying something about Loki being adopted.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked. Thor sighed.

“Loki is adopted, but not from Asgard. My father… after a war with Jotuns, found an abandoned baby. A runt. The King Laufey’s son.” The thunderer said. 

“So that’s where Laufeyson comes from.” Tony confirmed. All of them had noticed, but figured that most people who change their last names wouldn’t really want to talk about it. Especially if Loki was changing his name from Odinson. Thor nodded, though he looked a little dismayed that his brother had decided to go by Laufey’s name.

“My father decided to keep the baby, for surely it would have died if he left it. A frost giant runt would not survive in those conditions or by itself for very long.”

“Frost Giant?” Tony asked, “As in the race that you’ve been at war with for thousands of years with? The race that your dad promised to wipe out?”

“Yes…” Thor confirmed, knowing how bad it was making his father seem. But honestly, Thor couldn’t care less about how his father seemed right now. He was angry. Loki had almost _died_. And the Allfather had no problem with that. 

“Well, neither dad gets an award for their parenting skills…” Tony muttered.

Thor sighed, which he had been doing quite often. “I have answered your questions, friend Tony, now will you please tell me what happened?”

Clint looked at Thor as if he was inspecting him. With narrowed eyes he finally gave in. “Alright.”

It was a lot. Telling Thor that his baby brother was tortured and manipulated, having a literal god of thunder find out that his brother is being wrongly punished. They expected anger, for Thor to go crazy even, but he didn’t. When they finished telling him, he simply sat on the couch, eyes wide open.

“Thor?” Steve asked, still prepared for some outburst.

“He was tortured.” Thor said, and it felt so wrong on his tongue. Clint nodded and Thor felt his chest clench up. His baby brother, whom he had sworn to protect, had been tortured and manipulated by someone, some _thing_.

“Who?” Thor asked, and he couldn’t keep his voice from trembling with anger. “Who tortured my brother?”

“We don’t know.” Clint said, and Thor could tell the archer was telling the truth. He could tell _all of them_ were telling the truth. Thor saw the weariness in Clint’s eyes, saw the fatigue and worry, and he knew, the Avengers truly cared for his brother.

It was at that moment that Tony stood abruptly, hands shaking and eyes darting around wildly. He left the room in a frenzy. All of them watched worriedly. 

“I’ll go after him.” Steve said without hesitation, already standing to go after his teammate.

xxx

“Tony?” Steve called, stepping into the kitchen. He had only caught a glimpse of his friend slipping into the room. The lights hadn’t been turned on and the only source of light was the glow of the moon shining in. Steve saw the silhouette of his friend leaning over the table. “Tony.” The captain said more softly. He walked over and carefully put a hand on the genius’ shoulder, not failing to notice how tense he was. “Talk to me.” Steve urged.

“He died.” Tony said simply, not bothering to elaborate. 

“What?”

Tony took a shaky breath, “He died today. I heard the flatline, so did you. Everyone heard it. And it wasn’t just the bracelets’ fault.” He said, his chest heaving with anxiety. Steve’s brow furrowed in concern. 

“Tony-”

“We knew.” The billionaire started, “We knew he was sick, we knew he was getting worse and we didn’t do anything. How bad do we have to be to let it get to that point? To the point where he literally dies?” Tony looked up finally, and Steve could see the fear in his eyes plain as day. 

“The fact that he deteriorated to a point where he was on the ground vomiting blood is horrible Steve, and it’s our fault. He should have never gotten to that point.” Tony exclaimed, face contorted in regret and guilt. And Steve noticed that he lacked his usual speaking mannerisms. Tony was talking, but it was his anxiety that was speaking.

“But it did.” Steve stated plainly. “It happened.” He said, and Tony looked up with angry eyes. Cap continued before he could respond.

“We knew he was sick sure, but we also knew he was recently exposed to something very traumatic. We wanted to help him and the best way we could think of doing that was by giving him space. We messed up. We did. But we have to live with that and we have to get over it. Because Loki was the one coughing up his insides. Loki was the one who died and then came back. So we have to get over ourselves and be there for him.” Steve replied, leaving no room for argument.

To his surprise, Tony laughed. It was that dry kind of laugh. The kind that held almost no actual humour.

“I think that might be the smartest thing you’ve said.” He smiled wryly. “You’re getting wiser every day grandpa.” The genius teased. Steve smiled and jabbed Tony in the side, earning a squawk of surprise.

xxx

The first thing Loki noticed when he awoke was that he even awoke at all. Then he noticed all the people staring at him. He sat up slowly, feeling an ache in every part of his body, in all of his bones. 

“I’m… alive.” He said confusedly, as if not understanding how it was possible. 

“Well duh,” Tony said, and Loki could see he looked more tired than the last time he had saw him, “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Because I don’t have my magic. I shouldn’t be able to live without my magic.” The trickster stated, as if explaining it to himself as well. But then he froze. Eyes widening and body stiffening. 

He closed his eyes and listened, listened carefully. His breath almost hitched in the back of his throat. There. It was a sound, a feeling so familiar, so _beautiful_ that he almost couldn’t believe it. He could hear and feel the hum of his seiðr. It rushed through and around him, like a pet who’s owner had returned. His eyes flew open.

“My magic,” He gasped out, “It’s back.” He said, feeling as if he could cry tears of joy. Every pain that Loki had been feeling these past weeks, the agonizing throbbing in his wrists, the endless headaches and dizziness, the chest pains, they were all gone. Steve smiled and nodded.

Feeling exhilarated, Loki opened his palm, he had to see it for himself. Tendrils of green protruded from his hand and soon he was staring at the stars in Asgard’s sky. They danced upon his hand, swirling around one another. They looked just like how he remembered, from years ago.

“I always loved that trick.” A voice said from the doorway. Loki stiffened, head snapping in the voices’ direction. He almost sobbed when he saw him. There, right there in front of him, was his brother, was Thor, and he was smiling, one of those soft little smiles that was saved just for Loki, not one of those large grins he gave everyone and anyone. “Thor,” Loki breathed out.

“I’ve missed you dearly brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ty guys for reading ily all!!


	6. stab cam! biTch i HOPe tHE fUcK u DO, u bE A DEaD soN OF A bItCH I TeLL yOU tHaT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fluff!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait! I have revision this week and then exams the next so i'm borderline swamped with schoolwork ahaha

“-and that’s enough to sum up my weeks spent here.” Loki finished explaining, looking at Thor with a neutral expression on his face. Thor chuckled to himself, swinging his legs back and forth over the towers’ ledge. The two were seated on the towers’ roof, watching the midgardians bustle through their busy streets.

“I am glad friend Barton knew such things. I hate to imagine what would have happened had he not known, norns know _you_ wouldn’t have said anything.” Thor said pointedly. Loki elbowed his brother playfully. A strange sight for two people discussing one’s torture, but they had always been like that. Making jokes about the worst of times, laughing about their problems. It was just what they did.

“I would too have!” He chirped back, earning a raised brow from his brother. Loki stuck his tongue out, but couldn’t keep himself from giggling slightly. He just felt so happy in that moment. His brother was there, his magic was back, and the warm glow of the sunset made Thor’s brilliant smiles shine even brighter. 

Thor suddenly turned to Loki and wrapped his arms around him. The trickster felt his brother radiating warmth and melted into the hug. “I’m glad you’re back, Loki, I’m glad you’re free of whatever tyrant held you captive.” The thunderer whispered, and Loki felt tears come to his eyes. 

“I am just glad to be with you,” He murmured into Thor’s shoulder, just trying to grasp the fact that _Thor was here_ and _Thor was hugging him._ While Loki was affectionate, it was never like this. Never quite this open and loving, but he was just so ecstatic to be back with his brother.

After all that had happened to him. After everything _He_ had done to him, Loki felt like everything might just be okay. 

There was a sudden jabbing at his ribs and Loki squawked in surprise. He glared daggers at his brother.

“You were getting too lost in your thoughts.” Thor shrugged.

xxx

“So big bro,” Tony said, sliding around the common room and chasing after some rogue creation of his, “How long will you be staying chez vous?”

“It’s chez nous, Tony.” Natasha corrected from the couch, laughing slightly and shaking her head. 

“Same difference,” He snipped back before finally catching the little machine, “Aha!” He flicked a little switch on it’s back and it’s legs instantly stopped moving.

“So how long are you staying?” The inventor asked once more, placing his creation on the table. Thor pondered it for a moment.

“I am not sure. I have my responsibilities on Asgard, but I am sure I could stay for some time.” 

“That’s great!” Steve chirped, walking happily into the room. Loki smiled and nodded. “It is.”

“Don’t worry point break, we left your room just the way you like it.” Tony said, already dismantling his project. Thor nodded and thanked them. As he turned and left, he motioned for Loki to follow him, looking as if he had something to say.

xxx

“I am confused.” Thor said bluntly. Loki gave him a strange look and chuckled as they continued their walk in the halls. “A common occurrence, but do pray tell brother, what is the source of your confusion?”

“The people…” Thor started, Loki waved his hands around, “ The people, our closest friends, whatever you’d like to call them,” He teased and Thor narrowed his eyes. 

“No no,” He shook his head, “The new ones, I have no idea who they are.”

“Oh.” Loki said dumbly. “I guess I’ll have to introduce you to them,” He decided. “For starters there’s James Rhodes, or Rhodey, as he likes to be called. He is Tony’s oldest friend and he has worked for earth’s army for many years. He’s quite humorous.” Loki smiled.

“Then there is James Buchanan Barnes, but he prefers Bucky. Everyone here seems very keen on nicknames. He’s Steve’s friend back from before he took the serum,” Thor opened his mouth to interject, “Yes I know humans don’t live that long, it’s a complicated story Thor.” Loki explained before his brother could speak.

“En suite there is Doctor Stephen Strange, no nickname for him though. He does not live here but I often see him in the halls, for why I do not know. Then there is King T’Challa. He is the king of Wakanda, a country located in Africa and he’s also known as the Black Panther. Then we have two people around my age in human years.” Loki started, and Thor wondered if his brother had actually made friends his age, though he didn’t voice his opinion, he didn’t feel like getting hit.

“Their names are Shuri and Peter. Peter is from… I forget… Somewhere in america. He was recruited as Spiderman by Tony when him and Steve had fought, but once everyone was on good terms he immediately became friends with Steve too. Then there’s Shuri. She’s the princess of Wakanda and T’Challa’s younger sister. She’s also incredibly smart and a very talented medic.” Loki finished explaining. Thor nodded. 

“Why do they live here now?”

“I… I actually have no idea. They just kind of showed up about a week after I did.” Loki shrugged. He then noticed the look Thor was giving him. “What?”

“You’re beginning to sound like a Midgardian.” Thor smiled cheekily, earning a glare from Loki. “Am not!”

“Oh come off it brother, it’s not a bad thing, I thought you liked them!”

“Sure I like them, I’m not one of them though.” Loki sniffed and Thor elbowed him playfully.

“A minute ago you said ‘just kind of’. Not once in our lives have I heard you say that.” Thor said. Loki narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t make me stab you, brother dearest.” He threatened.

“Oh please,” Thor scoffed, still smiling, “Midgardians, hardly stab each other anymore. If anything you’d shoot me.” He said grinning wide now. Loki made an annoyed noise and hit his brother on the shoulder. Thor simply laughed while his brother glared daggers into the back of his head.

xxx

For the first time in a while, Loki had the opportunity to be alone with his thoughts. He had gone down to the training grounds and was now seated on a mat on the floor in the middle of the room. He took steady breaths in and concentrated on the hum of his magic.

Without skipping a beat, Loki’s eyes snapped open, glowing with green energy. His body hovered above the ground and he felt himself enter the gates to his magic.

Slowly, Loki walked down the rocky path. He breathed in the scent of this realm and felt himself smiling subconsciously. It smelt much like how New York smelt after it rained. 

It was peaceful here, inside his mind. Which he definitely hadn’t been expecting. Even more present now was his magic, he felt it's comforting thrum in his chest. He chuckled. “I missed you too.”

His magic hummed loudly at that, and Loki felt warmth blossom in his chest. Words truly could not explain the bond he felt to his magic. It was a part of him. Without his magic he was nothing. More than that, his magic was _alive_ , and Odin had locked it up.

He closed his eyes once more and listened. Soft piano could be heard in the distance. A smile grew upon his face and he began towards it. 

As he neared the music, he saw tendrils of green swirling around. His magic was dancing, Loki realized. Of course, his magic always had been quite dramatic, and this was nothing if not dramatic.

Loki let out a breathless laugh as the tendrils swept him off his feet, drawing him even closer to the music. 

“Isn’t this quite the show,” Loki commented, spinning on his feet. “Where did you learn to dance?”

 _Many millennia ago, child._ The magic thrummed back. Loki rolled his eyes.

Magic was complicated. It was beautifully intricate. For despite it being alive, it could not speak, and it had no physical form. It existed only to its users. Loki knew his magic was much older than he, and he knew it was much wiser. That was why he had always laughed at those who had told him not to let his magic take control. _”Why not? She’s much smarter than me, makes better decisions too.”_

Loki giggled loudly as his seidr shifted the earth beneath them, pushing them high into the sky. He looked around with a childlike light in his eyes.

He never wanted this moment to end.

xxx

“Tony!” Clint cried, poking his head into Tony’s workshop, an exhilarated grin on his face. The inventor, who had his hand shoved inside some type of ‘bot, looked up confusedly.

“You gotta see this!” The archer exclaimed, and Tony noticed that Steve was also in the doorway, a similar look of excitement on his face. Tony gently took his hand out of the control panel and wiped his hand off. 

“What is it?”

“It’s Loki! He’s using his magic!” 

xxx

“Oh my god.” Tony said breathlessly, staring up with wide eyes. Clint grinned, “I know right?”

Tony, Natasha, Steve, Clint, Peter, and Shuri had all collected at the entrance, all having been drawn to the training room one way or another. 

“Holy shit.” Peter breathed out, amazement in his eyes. 

Swirls of green sparkled across the room, dancing around the spectators and the God in the middle of it all. Loki, who had been hovering a few feet in the air, was now at least twelve feet from the ground, eyes still closed and legs still crossed. A soft smile was splayed across his face. Small silver orbs floated around the room, looking much like fireflies. The magic glowed brilliantly, illuminating the room and lighting up the amazement in their eyes. 

“No shade towards Thor and his lightning,” Shuri started, still watching the light show, “But this is the coolest fucking shit I’ve ever seen in my life.” She said, and Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Fuck yeah.” He whispered.

Tony sent a glare in their direction. “Language!” He hissed, and Steve laughed. It was well known that Tony had a tendency for swearing, but when it came to the children in the tower, he had a strict ‘no cursing’ policy.

“What’s he doing?” Natasha asked curiously, holding out her hand as an orb landed on it. She stroked it gently, gasping in amazement as it burst into thousands of smaller bubbles.

“He’s speaking to it.” 

Shuri, Peter, and Tony all let out startled cries, turning around with fear in their eyes. Steve, Clint, and Natasha all spun around, ready to fight.

“Jesus christ Thor, we need to put a bell on you.” Clint said, relaxing from his defensive position. Everyone visibly relaxed after realizing it was just their resident God of Thunder. 

“Like a cat.” Thor nodded. And Peter laughed. Thor looked down at the two teens.

“You must be Peter and Shuri, Loki’s friends.” He commented, large smile on his face. The thunderer extended his hand for them to shake. Peter looked as if he might cry.

“Thor knows my name!” He whispered loudly. Shuri rolled her eyes, large smile on her face.

“What do you mean he’s speaking to it? What’s he speaking to?” Natasha asked, being the only one not distracted by Thor’s entrance. 

“His magic,” Thor explained, “I’ve only seen him do it a couple times, but it is quite mesmerizing, as you can all see.”

“He can talk to his magic?” Steve asked, looking completely lost. Thor nodded.

“His seidr is much older and wiser than him, he often looks to it for guidance.” The god replied.

“Sentient magic? Fuck yeah.” Tony grinned.

It was at that moment when Loki’s body began to lower towards the ground. Slowly, the magic faded. When Loki opened his eyes, he grinned to himself. He then noticed the crowd of people watching him and instantly went red, looking down with what looked to be shame.

“I’m sorry,” He said softly, looking down at his hands, “I won’t do that again if that’s what you want.”

“Are you kidding me!?” Tony cried excitedly, “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” The billionaire ran over excitedly, the others following suite. Loki looked at them with wide eyes. “It was?”

Natasha nodded, “It was beautiful.”

Loki smiled bashfully and returned to looking at his hands. “Why wouldn’t we have liked it?” Steve asked, bless his ever curious soul. Loki suddenly looked very sad.

“On Asgard… Magic is not something a male would normally learn… it’s too feminine. I would often get made fun of or shamed for my magic.” He explained, not looking up. Natasha thinned her lips slightly.

“Gender stereotypes.” Shuri clicked her tongue. “That’s all bullshit, especially here. You’re free to like what you want to like Loki.” She smiled. Loki looked up at them, mouth frozen in an ‘o’. Peter grinned wide. 

Loki giggled and there were suddenly tears running down his face, despite the smile on his lips. Tony looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Loki smiled even more, “That’s the thing. Nothing is wrong. Thank you. All of you.” The god looked up at them smiling wide.

Tony felt his heart clench, seeing the god overwhelmed like that. He looked over and snickered slightly. Peter and Shuri looked as if they were going to burst into tears at any second. “Aw Loki!” Peter cried out. The two instantly dove down to hug the god. Tony grinned.

“Group Hug!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter's a bit shorter i hope y'all don't mind! Ty for reading ily guys


	7. is there anything better than pussy? yes! not being harassed by a purple space dildo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanhoe himself makes an appearance, things go really really really wrong and everyone is freaking out
> 
> mild tw for blood and cuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idek know how i put this much angst into a chapter but all i can say is wow i sure do love to torture my favs :')

Loki awoke with a strangled sob. He rocketed into a sitting position through the darkness. Loki took in rapid breaths and tried to muffle his cries with his shaking hands. He was gasping for air in between sobs, feeling more terrified than he had in weeks. He carefully moved one of his hands away from his mouth and went to touch his neck. 

It was bruised. He felt as if he would never breathe properly again. Large finger shaped bruises were imbedded into his skin. He tried desperately to forget what had just happened but it was still burning in his mind.

_Loki awoke in somewhere different. He slowly opened his eyes only to have them widen instantly when he realized where he was. He looked around him, tears of fear and horror already pooling in his eyes. His whole body was trembling with terror as he searched his surroundings._

_Then, someone grabbed him by the neck._

_Obviously, Loki should have seen that coming, but he hadn’t. It didn’t matter though, all that mattered was that he was in His grasp. Loki gasped and struggled, trying so hard to escape, but it was futile. He brought Loki close to his face, and spoke._

_“Did you really think you could escape me that easily, little one?” He chuckled. He suddenly tightened his grip and all amusement had disappeared. “You will **never** escape me.” He said, staring into Loki’s eyes with such malice and hunger that Loki thought that look alone would be enough to kill him. He closed his fist even more, grinning with a menacing glee as Loki let out a strangled cry of pain._

Loki let out another poorly muffled cry as the memory replayed in his mind. As he desperately tried to tell himself it was just a dream, he knew it wasn’t. The bruises were evidence enough.

“Oh gods.” Loki rasped out, tears falling from his eyes like waterfalls.

xxx

“Sir?”

Tony let out an annoyed groan, rolling over in his bed and pulling the covers with him. “What is it jar?”

“Mr. Laufeyson is on the roof.”

His eyes snapped open instantly. Tony shot out of bed, panic already ebbing its way into his chest. Because his initial thought was _fuck fuck fuck the kid’s gonna jump_. And he wasn’t sure how rational that was, seeing as Loki was a God, but it didn’t matter, he was still freaking out. 

Tony raced through the halls, taking the stairs instead because if anyone knew how slow that elevator was, it was him. _shit shit shit shit_

But when Tony arrived, bursting through the door, all he found was Loki sitting on the edge of the tower. The god had his back facing Tony and was looking up at the stars. _Space isn’t good, space is a trigger._ The god almost looked peaceful. Almost. Tony noticed that his shoulders were shaking.

“Lokes?” He spoke softly, careful not to startle the godling. Loki didn’t show any indication of hearing him. Tony walked forward carefully, and sat down beside the god. He looked at Loki’s face and noticed his tears glistening in the moonlight. “Loki?”

The god in question turned to him and Tony could see such raw unadulterated pain in his eyes. He felt his heart clench and almost felt tears of his own pricking at his eyes. He tentatively put a hand on Loki’s shoulders and made sure he was making eye contact. “It’s okay to cry.” He whispered. 

Tony didn’t really think he was good at comforting. He knew he tended to be sarcastic and loud, and right now he really didn’t know if he was helping or not. But it seemed that his words did something. Because the minute he told Loki it was okay, the god doubled over into a sobbing mess.

Tony quickly pulled his emotions into check and calmed himself. He grabbed Loki gently and pulled him close to his chest. The billionaire put his chin on the top on Loki’s head, cradled him close, and gently ran his fingers through Loki’s hair. “Shhh,” He comforted, “It’s okay I’m here.”

When Loki finally calmed, Tony let him go. Loki sat up slightly and then Tony noticed something he hadn’t before. He gasped. “Lokes?” Loki turned to him, eyes still red and puffy from crying. He then realized what Tony was staring at.

“Who the hell did that?” Tony growled out a fire blazing in his eyes as he looked at Loki’s neck. “I swear I don’t care who the hell it was, I’ll kill them-” Loki’s eyes widened.

“No no no!” He waved his hands in the air, “No one in the tower did this.” He said softly. Tears then began to pool in his eyes once more and his breathing increased rapidly. Tony instantly noticed it as the start of a panic attack. He clasped his hands around Loki’s shaking ones and made eye contact with the panicking child. “Loki look at me, it’s all alright, okay?”

Slowly, Loki calmed down once more. Tony closed his eyes and listened to the buzz of New York’s traffic and Loki’s breathing. “See? Everything’s all good.” He reassured. 

Minutes passed with the two of them just staring off into the distance. Tony then turned to Loki. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” He asked. Loki nodded. 

“I- I want to but…” His breath hitched. “It’s okay Lokes, take your time.” Tony nodded reassuringly, “Take as much time as you need.”

“When I- When I fell,” Loki started, and Tony realized Loki was telling him _everything_. “I died.” Loki took a shaky breath. “And then _He_ found me. He- He thought I’d be useful so He… He resurrected me.” Tony paled. “I- I couldn’t remember what had happened, so he told me that my family had cast me out. That Thor had thrown me from the bifrost. But then he told me that I was safe with him. He told me everything would be okay, and I believed him. Things were good for a small amount of time, just enough for me to blindly put all my trust into him and then… He told me he wanted me to lead an army and… and I told him no. So he…. He tortured me. He told me he was doing it because he loved me, that he loved me like I was his own and that- and that he was only doing this because he wanted what was best for me.” Loki took a shaky breath, tears still cascading down his face, “And after what felt like an infinite time of torture, my mind was finally weak enough for me to submit to the stone. He used the mind stone-” The god looked to Tony, “Do you know what an infinity stone is?”

Tony shook his head. Loki nodded. “A wise man once explained them this way,” He made a movement with his hand and a green hologram of a very old looking man appeared in front of them. 

“Before creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots… Infinity Stones.” The hologram spoke. Loki waved his hand and the hologram was whisked away. He took a deep breath.

“My captor used an infinity stone to manipulate me, the same one that controlled Clint. The mind stone. Mind you our circumstances were very different. Control is more, simple. It’s easy to understand. The person has no control over what you do. But manipulation… it’s different. It plays with your mind, makes you _want_ to do things that you’d never do. It’s a lot more intimate.” Loki explained. Tony nodded slowly, looking almost on the brink of tears. 

“What was his name?”

Loki looked off into the distance eyes glazed over, “Thanos.” He whispered. The name sent chills down Tony’s spine.

“He’s the one who-” Loki started and then stopped, trying to calm himself. “He’s the one who did this.” Loki weakly gestured towards his neck and then let his arm drop.

Tony felt his blood run cold. “When!? He was here!? In the tower-” 

“No!” Loki instantly cried, seeing Tony’s panic. “No.” He repeated softer. He sighed. “Thanos, by whatever means of magic, managed to speak to me through my dreams. I don’t know how or what happened. All I know is that- is that he was strangling me in my dream and then-” Loki cut himself off, another sob bubbling in his throat. “Oh gods.” He sobbed. “He- He told me I’d never be able to escape- that he’d find me- I-” Loki couldn’t bring himself to say anymore. He sobbed more now, each one wracking his tiny frame.

Tony watched with sad eyes. _No one should ever have to go through this, never mind a fucking kid._ He gently embraced Loki and held him tightly, going back to stroking his hands through the godlings hair.

“It’s okay Loki. We’re going to protect you, I promise.” He soothed.

And that’s how they sat, Loki in Tony’s arms, watching the sun rise.

xxx

“Steve.”

“What is it?”

“We need to talk.”

“Can it wait? This is kind of important-”

“ _Steve._ ”

The captain finally looked up at that. He saw Tony standing in the doorway, a dark look in his eyes. Steve felt weariness creeping its way into his stomach. “You and me?” Tony shook his head. “Everyone.”

xxx

“Why aren’t the kids here?” Clint asked, looking around the table. Tony sighed.

“They’re in the medbay.” He explained. Instantly everyone looked weary. “Don’t worry, nothing life threatening.”

“But that’s why we’re here?” Steve asked. Tony nodded. 

“Jarvis?” Tony said, looking towards the blank screen in front of all of them.

“Yes sir?” The A.I replied.

“Can you play the footage of me and Loki from last night on the roof?” The genius asked. “Of course sir.” 

“This is about my brother?” Thor rumbled anxiously as the screen buzzed to life. Tony looked at the god and nodded solemnly. 

xxx

“Shuri I already told you I’m fine,” Loki said, swatting the young medic’s hand away. Shuri made a noise of protest before going back to her work, ignoring Loki’s assurances. Peter, who was watching the two, kicked his legs back and forth as he sat on the cot next to Loki’s. There was a strange look in his eyes.

“Are you going to tell us what happened?” He asked, and both Shuri and Loki turned to him. He gestured to Loki’s neck absentmindedly, “Like who did that? ‘Cause I swear Loki, even if it was Mr. Stark, me and Shuri would still beat his ass for you.” 

Loki chuckled slightly, a soft smile on his face. “No no, I can assure the both of you that Tony, nor anyone in the tower did this to me.” He spoke, eyes cast downwards. Shuri hesitated and Peter’s brow furrowed. 

“You left the tower? Loki New York is dangerous and-”

“Peter,” Loki cut him off, “I didn’t leave the tower.”

“Then what happened?”

xxx

The footage stopped there, leaving the Avengers shaken, but none so much as Thor. The god of Thunder was pale, and looked like he might throw up. “Thor?” Steve called, watching his friend, concern etched into his features.

“Thanos…” Thor murmured, “Of all the beings in our universe… It was Thanos.”

“You know him?” Tony asked, an affronted look on his face, but Thor shook his head.

“I know _of_ him. Practically everyone in every realm does. Excluding Midgard of course.” Thor explained, still looking considerably upset.

“How does everyone know about him?” Natasha asked, she had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

“For millennia, tales have been told of the merciless titan, who dared slaughter anyone in his way. The titan who’s first planet he ever destroyed was his own. To this day, he is the only living titan. Not a single woman, man, or child escaped that massacre. But Thanos did not stop there. He has conquered thousands of planets. His death toll is easily in the billions, and he has no intention of stopping. As for what he did with Loki… It is not completely uncommon. Occasionally, while taking over a planet, or realm, Thanos will find a child with a fighting spirit, or one he thinks could be useful. He then ‘adopts’ them, manipulates them into thinking he cares for them. It’s… horrifying.” He swallowed thickly. Everyone around the table looked horrified. Not even Natasha or Clint, who had been trained to keep their emotions in check, could keep from looking shocked. 

“How do we protect him?” Rhodey asked quietly. All eyes turned to him. “Thanos spoke to him _in his dream._ How can we stop that?”

“I… I don’t know.”

xxx

“This is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen.” Tony commented, staring at the three teens as he took as many pictures as possible. Steve smiled as he watched Tony act like a first time father. 

Peter, Loki, and Shuri were are curled up together on one of the medical cots. Shuri and Peter were laying on the sides, while Loki slept in the middle. When they had asked Jarvis what had happened the A.I had explained that after Loki had explained what had occurred the night before, they had cried and hugged until they all fell asleep. _“Kids, get tired out so quickly”_ Tony had chuckled.

As Steve accidentally knocked over a vial, they noticed the way Shuri and Peter curled over Loki in a protective manner, even while asleep. “God this is so cute.” Tony said, smiling.

“Wow,” Clint said, and Tony looked over at him confusedly, “You sure do have a soft spot for these three don’t you?” The archer noted. Tony sputtered, but didn’t deny anything. And that alone was a victory for Clint.

“They’re all so unique.” Tony commented softly. And Clint looked over with an air of surprise, he hadn’t expected Tony to answer. “I mean, Peter, he’s so smart. And he’s such a good kid, his heart is always in the right place.” Tony smiled, “And Shuri, god she’s a genius. And whenever she learns something new she just gets this look on her face, like the whole universe makes sense.” He chuckled. “And Loki, he’s just so vulnerable but he’s so cunning, and funny, god he’s funny. There’s really no one like them.” Tony was watching the sleeping teens now, admiration in his eyes.

“Man you really are their dad.” Clint laughed. Tony chuckled, “I mean, none of them have dads, but I’m pretty sure everyone in the tower, excluding the two big bros, are parental figures.”

Clint grinned. Natasha, and Steve both chuckled from the other side of the room.

Sadly, things couldn’t stay good for more than a few minutes, it seemed. With a loud gasp, Loki awoke, already breathing heavily and crying. Instantly, Peter and Shuri were awake and and at his side, asking if he was alright.

“Fucking shit.” Clint muttered.

“Loki?” Natasha asked, eyes wide with concern. “Loki can you hear us?” 

But Loki showed no signs of hearing anyone. He was gasping for air but it still seemed as if he couldn’t breathe. Tony noticed the blood collecting in the god’s palms where his nails were digging in, much like his first night spent in the tower.

Slowly, Loki unclenched his fists, he held out his arm, and with shaking bloodied hands pulled back the sleeve. Peter and Shuri gasped aloud, staring in horror. Natasha’s hand fell from Loki’s shoulder and her eyes widened. 

There, carved into Loki’s arm, read the words _You will never escape_

xxx

“I must leave at once.” Thor stated, already walking towards the roof of the tower. Tony ran after him.

“Are you kidding me? You _do_ know what just happened, right?” 

“Of course I know what happened,” Thor growled, “That’s precisely why I must return to Asgard. If anyone can help Loki, it’s our mother.” Thor tried to explain. Tony set his jaw. 

“She can help?” Tony asked, eyes swimming with worry. Thor nodded, “I believe so.”

“Alright…” Tony said, watching the God walk away. “Thor?” The thunderer turned around, 

“Please hurry.”


	8. today my brother told t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶v̶e̶n̶g̶e̶r̶s̶ my family my entire tragic backstory so i'm starting a kickstarter to put him down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the avengers find out loki has been through way more shit then they thought, aunt may and Frigga make appearances, and loki watches harry potter and friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh I have no excuse for this being such a shitty chapter and for the long wait lmao
> 
> WARNING!!: this chapter includes talk of torture, child marriage, and eXTreme butchering of norse mythology (i have no apologies, i'm making this shit as angsty as possible)

Harry Potter. They were watching Harry Potter.

Loki was seated in the middle of the couch. Peter, Tony, and Natasha sitting on the right, and Shuri, Clint, and Steve on the left. 

After bandaging Loki’s arm, and calming him down, they decided it would be best to try and distract him. So here they were watching the Chamber of Secrets.

“Why are we watching this one?” Clint groaned, “It’s obviously worst one.”

Tony almost fell off the couch as he gasped in horror. “How dare you!? Have you _seen_ Tom Riddle in this? He looks… He looks…” 

“Like a snack.” Peter squeaked from underneath the thousands of layers of blankets covering Shuri, Loki, and him. Tony nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yeah! Like a-” He turned towards Peter, “Like a snack?”

“It’s another way to say hot.” Natasha supplied, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“You’re getting old Tony.” Steve teased and Clint snickered. Tony stuck out his tongue and went back to watching the movie, a scowl upon his face. 

“Their concept of magic is…” Loki started, and half of them expected him to say ‘dumb’ or ‘trivial’, “cool.” They looked over and saw a light in his eyes as he watched the screen.

“I mean, the need of wands is sort of inconvenient, but the way they portray it. It’s very interesting.” 

“It’s a lot different from you magic.” Peter commented. Loki nodded, small smile on his face. Everyone else was just relieved that they had successfully taken his mind off Thanos.

“Sir, May Parker has arrived.” Jarvis piped up from the ceilings. Peter let out a squeak of surprise.

“I forgot she was coming this weekend!” He cried. With much needed effort, Peter shimmied out from his nest of blankets and ran to the elevator.

When he returned, it was with a woman. She had long dark hair and glasses that fell slightly down her face. “Guys, this is my Aunt May. Aunt May this is Steve, Shuri, Natasha, Clint, and Loki. You already know Tony.”

May waved and smiled at all of them while Tony winked in her direction. Earning an elbow in the ribs from Natasha. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Steve smiled. “What brings you here?”

“I’m here to help Peter finish moving the last of his lab things from his old room to here,” She said.

“Tony didn’t offer to move it for you?” Clint asked. Peter shook his head.

“Mr. Stark _insisted_ , but aunt may insisted more.” He replied. May laughed.

“There was no way I wasn’t going to come and see my nephew’s new place. Besides, this gave me a chance to meet the Avengers.” She winked at them.

“I like her,” Shuri whispered to Clint who nodded back. May’s eyes zeroed in on Shuri. She grinned wide.

“I’m assuming you’re Shuri? Peter has told me much about you. And I’d recognize your voice anywhere,” she giggled.

“You know my voice?” Shuri asked curiously.

“Well I’m assuming it was you skyping Peter at three a.m. all those nights.” May said. Shuri looked over at Peter with wide eyes, ‘she heard us?’ she mouthed.

“I don’t know we’re broke! The walls are thin!” Peter cried back loudly. May giggled. She then noticed the curious pair of eyes peeking out from the covers.

“You must be Loki.” She smiled softly, “I’ve also heard a lot about you.”

She took in the boy before her. Peter hadn’t given her much information but she did know the basics. She, for starters, knew that Loki was in fact, not responsible for the invasion. Peter had very briefly explained that Loki had been through a lot, and while he might have not said it, it was very heavily implied that he had been tortured. That alone had made May’s parental instincts kick in and she began feeling protective for a boy whom she had never met. Now that she looked at the boy, she felt her heart swell even more. He was curled up in a tight wad of blankets, surrounded by pillows and other people. His long black hair was tied back in a messy bun, and his eyes were wide with unease but also kindness. But it was obvious something had happened. And very recently at that. His cheeks were sunken in, and there were heavy bags under his eyes. 

Still, Loki lifted his chin above the covers and smiled at her. “Hello Ms. Parker, it’s nice to make your acquaintance.” 

Fuck. May was already in love with both Shuri and Loki. 

xxx

The whole tower rumbled from above. Tony, if not so relieved, would have been very concerned about the wellbeing of his tower. “Oh thank god.” Tony breathed out in relief.

All the Avengers, save for the three children and May, were seated in the common room. The doors swung open and Thor entered with a quickened pace. All of their jaws almost dropped.

Behind Thor, walked a woman. She had a long dress that dragged far behind her, it’s layers swayed with her hips in beautiful folds of shimmering gold. Her hair was tied intricately, with tiny flowers braided in. She held herself with a regal air, her head held high. And yet, somehow she was not at all intimidating. 

“Apologies my friends, I wish I could introduce you under better circumstances but,” He gestured towards the woman. “This is the Allmother, Frigga. The queen of Asgard as well as mine and Loki’s mother.”

The woman smiled and nodded at them. “It is a wondrous thing to meet the friends of both my sons. I trust you know what a feat it is to be someone both of them favor.” She chuckled and then looked around the room, scanning their faces.

“Speaking of which, where is my youngest-” That was all she could say before she was enveloped in the worlds biggest hug by a blur of black and green. She let out a surprised giggle and clutched on tightly to the shaking bundle. Tears of her own began streaming down her face. It had been a long time since she had held Loki like this. “My son,” She gasped out, “My son, how I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry.” He sobbed out. “I’m so _so_ sorry.”

She clutched him even tighter to his chest, overwhelmed by the amount of emotions he was showing. Before Loki had fallen, he had been stoic. A shell of his former self, not showing any emotions. Frigga had worried herself into a nervous wreck over it. She had no idea where her son had gone. And then she had lost him. Truly, she had thought herself to never recover. And then, she was told her son was alive. The tears of joy she had cried that day, many more than she thought possible. But then she was told of what was occuring on Midgard, and she knew, that was _not_ her son.

But now, now her son was here. He wasn’t whole once more, no, but he was here. Here in her arms where she could hold him. And he was apologizing. _Apologizing_. For something he had very little control over.

“My star, it is not your fault. Don’t you apologize.” She hushed him. He simply sobbed harder.

The Avengers watched with a mixture of fondness and sadness. They were happy beyond belief that Loki had gotten to see his mother once more, but the reason why was more than a little concerning.

Hopefully, now that Frigga was here, all would be well.

xxx

Her visit passed by in snippets 

“I see,” Frigga replied, lips thinned. The Avengers had just finished retelling why she was needed on Midgard. It was taking every bit of her not to cry. The Mad Titan himself was tormenting her son.

“I-” She choked, losing her voice slightly, “I believe I have something that can aid him.” She told them. She waved her hand and a large old looking book appeared. She flipped to a certain page. “I believe I must summon each ingredient, seeing as phoenix talons cannot be found on Midgard.” Steve nodded with a confused look on his face. 

“Your magic is a lot like Loki’s,” Natasha noted, noticing the way she summoned the items. Frigga smiled.

“Indeed. I am the one that taught him, and, I believe our magic comes from very similar sources.” The queen smiled as she thought back to all the times she had been teaching her son.

xxx

“Just drink this, my son.” She advised, placing the vial in Loki’s palm. He looked down at the glowing gold liquid. “It is not a solution, but it should keep him away from your mind long enough for me to find one.” She told him. He nodded and then faltered.

“But…” He started, looking down at the ground, “But what if you can’t? What if you can’t find a solution?”

Frigga’s eyes widened. She cupped Loki’s cheeks and forced him to look at her. Tears were welling in his eyes and Frigga reminded herself just how young her son was. “I will. I promise you my son, nothing will stop me from protecting you. _Nothing_.”

A strangled sob escaped his throat and he buried his face in her chest. She held him gently, rocking him back and forth and shushing him.

xxx

“I’ll be back soon, my loves,” Frigga said, kissing each son on the cheek. Loki nodded solemnly. She turned to the Avengers, her hair blowing slightly in the winds atop the tower. 

“Thank you all. You have been so kind to Loki throughout his stay. I am glad he has found family anew. I plan on returning as soon as possible, with a solution.” She smiled tightly. 

With that, she turned away from them and craned her neck towards the sky. “Heimdall!” 

Her visit passed in snippets and just like that, she was gone as fast she had came.

xxx

“Okay real talk,” Shuri said, rolling over on Peter’s bed so that she could see Loki’s face, “Your mom is literally the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” 

Loki laughed loudly, covering his mouth. (a habit he’d adapted throughout his time in the tower) “She is.” He agreed, nodding his head. 

Peter’s head suddenly popped up, an excited expression on his face. He had been going through his boxes and the two on the bed were _supposed_ to be helping him.

“Holy fuck you guys look at what I just found!” He cried, holding up a dvd. On it was a group of people in front of a fountain. The text read ‘friends’. Shuri squealed in excitement.

“What season!?” 

“Uh,” Peter continued rummaging through the box, “I’ve got seasons one and two!” He said, holding up another disc. Shuri clapped her hands together excitedly.”Fuck yeah! Best seasons!”

Loki looked at them confusedly. “What is that?”

“Sometimes I forget that you’re an alien.” Shuri said. “This, my friend, is one of the best TV shows to ever exist.” She grinned. Loki nodded in the disc’s direction. “What’s it about?”

“Friends basically.” Shuri shrugged. “I know so far you’ve only seen the hunger games and harry potter, those are pretty dramatic. This is a comedy.” 

Peter nodded excitedly, “Yeah yeah! It’s about six friends living together or near each other in New York! It’s a bit old but it’s still amazing.” He supplied. Loki smiled. 

“Sounds interesting.”

Two seasons later, Loki had learnt it was that and more. “So,” Shuri said, turning to him, “What’d you think?”

“I loved that so much.” He said, grinning. 

“Who was your favourite?”

“Chandler.” Loki said immediately, leaving no room for objections. Peter laughed loudly. 

“He’s my favourite too.”

“It was a bit strange though,” Loki said, a look of pondering upon his face. Shuri blinked confusedly, “What was?”

“Well, I know it was a comedy and all, but there wasn’t even a finish to it. It seemed as if it could go on forever. Is it common for comedies to end like that?” He asked.

“Oh my god Loki there’s so much more! There are ten seasons!” Shuri cried, anew with energy and excitement. Loki grinned wide, “There are!?” Both Shuri and Peter nodded excitedly.

Well Loki sure as Hel knew what he was doing for the next few days.

xxx

While the children enjoyed themselves in Peter’s bedroom, the Adult avengers were having a much different experience.

“Hey Thor?” Tony asked softly, as if afraid of something. Thor turned confusedly, Tony was never this hesitant. 

“Uh, we have a couple of questions for you.” The billionaire said, sitting down at the large table, the others following suit. Thor nodded, “Go on.”

“On Loki’s first day here,” Steve started, “He said something a bit worrying.”

Thor frowned, “What did he say?”

There was a silence. No one wanted to really ask the question.

“Was Loki ever married?” Clint asked wearily, “Or did he have any kids?”

A sad look passed over the god’s face. “Aye, he was indeed married. He had children as well.” Solemn looks passed around the table.

“Can you tell us about them?” Steve asked.

“His wife was Sigyn. She was a princess of Niflheim and a fierce warrior. She had an even fiercer personality,” Thor chuckled. “Her and Loki were the best of friends, they would play together each and every day. But then came the day where Odin and the King of Niflheim wished to strengthen the realms bond, strengthen their truce. And so, Loki and Sigyn were married, despite not loving each other romantically.” Thor sighed, rubbing his temple.

“It is law that royal families must have two children,” He explained, “But because Loki and Sigyn were married and belonged to two differing realms, they were binded by law to have four children. And so, despite loving Sigyn like a friend, the two of them had four children. Sleipnir, Hel, Jormungand, and Fenrir. You should have seen Loki’s face the first time he held his only daughter Hel. He looked at her with such delight in his eyes. And no matter the circumstances, he loved his family more than anything. Sigyn was his best friend and he always told me, ‘I may not love her like a wife, but I could never wish for a better soulmate and mother of my children’. And they were a happy family.”

Despite being slightly horrified by the fact that children were forced to marry and have children, the story was still rather sweet. Tony was smiling softly to himself, but then he felt his stomach drop as he remembered what Loki had also said.

“What happened to them?”

A stricken look passed over Thor’s face.

“There came the day where Asgard and Niflheim went to war, and my brother and his wife were caught in the middle of it. They moved to a secluded area in a forest, where they could wait out the war and remain safe. And they were. Until Loki was notified that the castle was under attack. He promised Sigyn that he would return as soon as he was sure that I and our mother were safe, and went off to fight. When Loki came back, their house was aflame and their bodies were decorating the yard. Horrified, Loki let down his defenses, holding Sigyn and crying, begging the norns to bring his family back. That was when the warriors who had slain his family attacked him. _Asgardian_ warriors. They claimed that he was a traitor by default because he had married Niflheim’s princess. They captured him and took Hel’s body, leaving the others. They took him to a cave guarded by a giant serpent, and tied him to the ground using Hel’s organs. The serpent watched over him and dripped venom onto his face. The tortures only stopped when I finally found and rescued him.”

Silence. The Avengers were horrified. They couldn’t even breathe after what they had heard. Natasha was shaking, with fury or horror, no one knew. Tony was staring at Thor, tears silently tracking down his face. Steve was hunched over crying softly. Bucky sat with eyes wide open, staring into nothing. Rhodey was breathing heavily, fury etched into his features. T’Challa sat with his eyes closed, meditating and trying to calm himself. And Clint, Clint was a mess of silent angry tears. 

“H-How old was he?” Nat choked out.

Thor looked at them with pain in his eyes. “The earth equivalent I believe is fourteen.”

Tony stood abruptly rushing to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach.

“Fourteen…” Clint repeated, face contorted in horror. “Fourteen…”

“M-My brother hasn’t had an easy life.” Thor said shakily. He looked as though he could dissolve into a sobbing mess at any second.

 _No kidding_ , the Avengers thought. They thought back to everything he had been through

_Forced into marrying your best friend? Check._

_Forced into having children while you yourself are still a child? Check._

_Finding the dead bodies of your wife and children? Check._

_Tied to the ground with your youngest child’s organs? Check._

_Tortured by a giant serpent? Check._

_Falling through a rip in space and time for an eternity? Check._

_‘Adopted’ by a tyrant whose only goal was to manipulate you? Check._

_Tortured by the same person who told you that you were safe with them and that they’d never hurt you? Check._

_Forced to lead an alien invasion and then being wrongfully punished for it? Check._

_Having to live with the people who think you did it all on purpose and literally becoming their slave? Check._

_Getting so sick because your ‘father’ took away your literal life force knowing that it would kill you and actually flatlining for a whole six minutes? Check._

_Having your tormentor strangle you, threaten you, and carve threats into your arm all through dreams? Check._

Loki really couldn’t catch a break could he?

Tony really felt like he was going to throw up again, and he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u all have better read the chapter title bc I had to look up 'cross out text generator' for that jhjsdh
> 
> also shit only gets worse from here on I hope u know
> 
>  anyways thanks for reading this garbage and i'll see u next time on: Me shamelessly beating the actual shit out of Loki


	9. A bunch of dudes, hanging up on the roof (with loki), five feet apart cause they aren't pedophiles!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippets of Loki and certain people up on the roof having talks™️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might seem like a filler but it's actually me trying to strengthen everyone's bonds to Loki so it hurts ten million times more when shit goes down in later chapters :))))))))))))))))))))))))))

The Archer found Loki on the roof. 

It wasn’t a surprise, Loki spent a lot of his time up there. The god was staring at the city lights, a forlorn expression on his face. 

He sat beside Loki, not speaking. He noticed the way the god fidgeted with the hem of his hoodie. Loki reminded him of Cooper in that hoodie. It was pale green and much too big, and it accented his eyes in just the right way. Of course, in the glow of the moonlight Loki didn’t actually look anything like Cooper. He was obviously, much taller, older, and thinner. And yet, Clint still saw a resemblance in between the two. 

“You okay?” He asked tentatively. Loki hesitated slightly. 

“I- I heard you all in the common room this afternoon…” The god said quietly. Shit.

“Oh,” Clint replied dumbly. “Uh look Loki, we’re really sorry. We didn’t mean to be pushy or invasive, we just wanted to know more-”

“No no,” Loki waved his hand, “It’s fine. I’m not mad, I swear. It’s just, it’s been a long time since someone talked about my family.”

“What do you mean?” Clint asked, brow furrowed. 

“Well, my family was of Niflheim, therefore they were known as traitors, so anyone who ever spoke of them spoke of them quite lowly, and by now they have been forgotten. Forgotten by all but me, Thor, the Allmother, and Heimdall.” Loki looked down at his hands, and Clint thought he looked much too much like a kicked puppy.

Clint felt anger- no, fury -bubbling inside of him. It was horrible enough that they had mercilessly slaughtered Loki’s family, but then insulted and forgotten them too? That was disgusting. And then he felt angry tears prick his eyes. He couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if someone had done that to him. Killed Laura, Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel. He didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself. And Sigyn was Loki’s best friend. That would have been like him also losing Natasha. 

The archer pulled Loki into an embrace, something he didn’t do too often, and whispered into his ear, “Loki I’m so _so_ sorry.”

Loki sniffled. “Thank you.” He whispered back. They broke apart and a comfortable silence washed over them. Clint watched the traffic below them with a calmness he didn’t have before.

“You know I have kids too?” He asked. Loki looked over at him with an air of curiosity. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Clint nodded, “I don’t talk about them too much, ‘cause I wanna protect them an’ all, but I’ve got three. Two boys and one girl.”

“What are their names?” Loki asked.

“There’s Nathaniel, my youngest, Lila my little girl, and Cooper, my oldest.” He smiled. “You actually remind me of Cooper,” He remarked, looking at the trickster.

“Me?” Loki blinked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Clint nodded. “You guys have the same curious eyes, and the same laugh. It’s scary sometimes, how much you remind me of him.”

“Oh, and you have similar personalities too.” He grinned, “One time I found him sitting on the floor, face stuffed with cookies, and I asked him, ‘Cooper, did you eat all the cookies?’ and while looking me dead in the eyes, with all the cookies in his mouth, he said ‘no’. Or tried to anyways. It’s hard to speak with cookies in your mouth.”

Loki giggled at that. A childlike giggle that made Clint feel warm. “I’ll introduce you to him one day soon.” The archer said, and it felt like a promise. Loki smiled, the kind of smile that made his eyes and nose crinkle. 

“I’d like that.” He replied.

xxx

When Natasha found him on the roof, he was lying on his back, head tipped up and eyes looking at the sky that was just barely tinged with pink from the morning's sunrise. 

She laid down beside him. 

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Sigyn.” He replied monotonously. She nodded. 

Shit. Sigyn was his wife, and Nat had no experience with romance, nor did she want to. Then again, he didn’t love Sigyn romantically, so maybe Natasha could deal with that.

“What was she like?” 

“Smart.” He replied without skipping a beat, “And funny, and kind, and an amazing warrior. She was perfect in every way.”

“So why didn’t you love her? Romantically I mean.”

Loki sighed. “That, is my problem,” He replied, “I have no idea.”

“I mean, she was truly, the most perfect woman I’ve ever known, and the best friend, but I had no romantic feelings for her.”

Natasha nodded her head once more, she knew what that felt like.

Loki was silent for many minutes, and Natasha thought that might have been the end of their conversation.

“Am I broken?”

Natasha turned her head over to look at him. He was still looking up at the sky, a blank expression on his face.

“What?”

“She was the perfect woman. Women and men alike would have lined up for her, and I still felt nothing. And… And I’ve never felt anything for anyone.” He whispered the last part. 

“Thor would go through women like mead, and I never felt a single thing for anyone. At first they mocked me, called me Ergi. But I felt no affection for men either. I don’t love anyone, and I never have. Does that prove I’m a monster?”

“God no.” She shook her head vehemently. “Of course not Loki.” 

“Then why am I like this?” He whispered sadly, and Nat felt her heart clench.

“You know I’m like that too?” She said, and Loki’s head turned so fast she thought it might fall off. “You are?”

She nodded. “I don’t want to date anyone, or have sex with anyone. I never have and never will.”

Loki remained silent, but Natasha saw the look of relief and happiness on his face out of the corner of her eye. She decided to continue, “It’s called aromantic asexual, but not wanting labels is cool too.” She replied.

Loki swallowed thickly, “There are- It’s normal? Other people feel that way too? There’s people like me?” She noticed the way his voice wavered. The shock in his tone was evident.

“Yeah,” She nodded again, still looking up at the sky, “Yeah there are.”

xxx

Steve found him sleeping. Lying underneath the stars, as if he could use them as a blanket. It was comforting, to see him sleep. There had been that short period of time where they thought that Loki would never be able to actually enjoy sleep ever again. That short period of time where they had thought they would have to help him stay awake no matter what.

Now though, he was peaceful. It was strange to Steve; If you were to mention space, Loki would normally tense, and though he’d say he was fine they could tell he wasn’t. But it seemed that Loki was just naturally drawn to the cosmos. Leave him be and you’d most definitely find him up on top of the tower, watching the skies.

And so, seeing the godling sleeping there, Steve did the only sensible thing he could think of. He went back inside, got as much blankets and pillows as he could, wrapped them around Loki’s tiny form and himself, and slept beside him.

When Loki awoke the next morning, he had discovered the captain only a foot away from him, dozing peacefully despite being outside and on the ground. Whether or not he’d mentioned it, that was the best Loki had slept in years.

xxx

When Peter found him, he was crying silently. The spiderling abandoned his naturally happy nature and sat beside Loki quietly, stroking the god’s hand in a calming way.

“Better?” He asked, once the tears had finally stopped. Loki nodded. 

“Flashbacks?” Another nod.

Peter looked out into the sky. He saw the pink and blue hues mixing together, saw the birds flying, saw the clouds milling about.

“I get them too.” He whispered suddenly. Loki looked over, a perplexed expression upon his face.

“Flashbacks.” He clarified. “My uncle got shot in front of me, but because both my parents died when I was really young, he was basically my dad. Some days I’m fine and some days I can’t get the sound of the gun firing out of my mind.”

“And I also had a building collapse on me.” He saw Loki’s eyes widen, “I don’t remember all that much but I do remember screaming and screaming, and no one coming to help me.” He said, whispering the last part.

Loki nodded and grabbed Peter’s hand. The spiderling squeezed it. “I have an experience much like that. I remember being… being in my c-cell. And crying out for my family, for Heimdall mostly. But no one ever came.” Loki explained, and Peter nodded. “No one can hear or see you in the void.”

That struck a chord with Peter. That last sentence had sounded so hopeless and afraid. The spiderling made a vow then and there to never let Loki go back to the void, whether it was a stupid vow or not, he was pretty damn serious about it.

Peter felt his eyelids growing heavy. He leant his head upon Loki’s shoulder and vaguely felt Loki resting his head as well, and then promptly fell asleep, still sitting under the sunrise.

His fleeting thought was ‘wow for a bunch of superheroes we sure have fucked up sleeping schedules.’

xxx

Shuri found him looking over the edge. 

“Loki?” She asked, eyes wide and afraid. He turned to her calmly, then saw what she must have been thinking,

“I’m not going to jump,” He replied, “Don’t worry.”

She nodded hesitantly. He motioned for her to join him as he sat down.

“So what were you doing then? I mean, if you weren’t planning on jumping.”

Loki looked out into the distance, and then up to the stars. 

“When I let go,” He started, “I left people behind… Only Thor, The Allmother and Heimdall, but still.”

Shuri noticed he was staring at a particular space in the sky, she imagined that might be where Asgard was.

“And I left them. And… And whenever the subject of me letting go comes around, Thor… He gets this look on his face. And I can just tell he’s mad at me for letting go, for leaving him.”

“Oh Loki,” She started, shaking her head, “He’s not mad at you.” 

Loki said nothing, still watching the stars.

“You know, there was a time where I thought T’Challa was dead.” She said hesitantly, and Loki looked over. “Our cousin… Well we didn’t really know he was our cousin until then because he wasn’t raised in Wakanda. So he wanted us to extend our resources to the rest of the world. So we could help others. But that’s beside the point. He challenged T’Challa to a fight for the throne basically. And… And he won. He… He stabbed T’Challa and pushed him off of a cliff. We found him much later, barely clinging to life but… but still I watched him die.” She swallowed thickly, she hadn’t truly spoken of that event since it happened… But Loki felt like someone she could say anything to and he’d still love her.

“But,” She stated, with newfound optimism in her tone, “But never am I angry at him for that. Sure when the topic arises… I feel this tightness in my chest… It hurt, losing him I mean. It really hurt. But I’m never _never_ mad at him.”

“Thor isn’t mad at you Loki, it just hurts him to remember. You’re his little brother.”

Loki nodded and looked over at her, a soft smile on his face. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” She smiled back.

xxx

He looked down at his hand, his shaking hand. 

“I’m a monster,” He whispered. He curled in on himself, feeling sick to his stomach.

“If you’re a monster then what does that make me?” 

Loki turned his head as quick as possible startled by the sudden voice. Bruce was standing behind him with an apologetic smile upon his face. “Sorry sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s alright,” Loki replied hoarsely, going back to resting his head on his knees. 

“Mind if I sit?” The scientist asked, and Loki patted the spot beside him, “Go ahead.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Bruce earned the courage to break it.

“You aren’t a monster Loki.” He said quietly, and Loki let out a little huff of air that resembled a laugh.

“You haven’t seen my true form then, obviously.” With a flick of his hand, a wave of green passed over Loki and slowly, his pale skin was replaced by blue.

“Oh wow,” Bruce breathed out.

“I told you,” Loki mumbled, feeling more and more self-conscious the long he stayed in his Jotun form.

“No no,” Bruce shook his head, “I mean _wow_ Loki. That’s amazing.”

“What?”

“Why on earth would you think this makes you a monster?” Bruce asked, still staring in awe.

“Jotuns _are_ monsters,” Loki replied, blood red eyes staring down at the ground.

“Nuh-uh,” The scientist shook his head, “The Hulk? Now he’s a monster. You? Not even close.” 

Loki remained silent.

“Seriously Loki. You’re the opposite of a monster. You’re kind, caring, patient, intelligent, anything but a monster. And everyone down there?” He gestured down inside the tower below them, “They wouldn’t hesitate to agree with me.”

“Really?” Loki asked, and Bruce couldn’t tell if there were tears in his eyes or if Jotuns just looked like that.

Bruce nodded, “Really.”

The scientist had to admit, he’d never seen Loki smile like that until then.

xxx

“Guys,” Tony said and everyone in the room looked up. “ _Guys_ ,”

“Yes Tony?” Nat replied, voice laced with annoyance.

“I just realized, how attached we’ve gotten to Loki.” 

“Well duh,” Clint replied.

Steve nodded, “I was watching Brooklyn nine-nine like you told me to and there was a scene that made me think of all of us and Loki.” He said and all the Avengers looked over at him.

“The one where Rosa gets a puppy, and she says something like ‘I’ve only had this dog for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him, I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself.’ It was just like us and Loki.” He explained and the room erupted into laughter, confusing the three teens in the other room who were just trying to watch Star Wars.

“It’s kind of scary that that’s true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is ugly whoops
> 
> I hope you all know it's not getting any less angsty for a very very long time :)))) 
> 
> (Its only gonna get worse, and I mean much worse)


	10. Good alternative to talking to your friends about your problems, eat them. Fucking eat your problems.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is having lots of anxiety and his friends/family tries to help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! I updated much sooner than I thought I would! hopefully y'all enjoy this chapter even though it's just kind of leading up to certain things.

Loki was a nervous wreck. 

He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, could hear it pounding in his ears. The god absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair that had fallen from his bun in his fingers. It was almost as if his throat was closing up. Maybe it was. Considering all the shit he’d been through, it didn’t seem so far fetched.

“Hey Lokes!” Tony’s voice snapped him from his trance, “Where’s big brodinson?”

Loki looked over at him. The genius was leaning on the doorframe, a relaxed look on his face. Loki swallowed thickly.

“Th-This morning… Thor got an urgent message from Heimdall…” He paused, seeing Tony’s face fall, “Asgard is under attack.”

xxx

“Alright Lokes,” Tony said, plopping himself down on the couch beside the god of mischief, “Operation ‘distract the hell out of you’ is now underway!” Tony had a bowl- basically a bucket -of popcorn and two giant cokes. Loki shook his head, “Not hungry,”

Tony clicked his tongue, “That’s just because you’re nervous!” He shrugged, “Once I distract you with my fantastic movie and or TV show tastes you’ll be shoving your face with this shit-stuff.” He said, eyes widening as he cursed in front of the godling. His eyes narrowed, “I didn’t say that.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “I’ve heard you swear many times, Tony.”

“See it’s already working! You’re already distracted!” He grinned, but Loki just went right back to fretting. “Whoops.”

Natasha and Clint appeared out of seemingly nowhere and seated themselves on the couch. Clint hastily reached over and stole the bowl of popcorn from Tony’s unsuspecting hands. “Hey!” The genius squawked indignantly. 

Natasha swatted at Loki’s hand. “Don’t bite your nails,” She said, “It’s a bad habit.”

“What’re we watching?” Clint asked, taking a sip from the coke Tony just noticed was no longer beside him. He narrowed his eyes at the archer.

“Grey’s,” He replied whilst Clint groaned.

“What’s it about?” Loki asked, momentarily distracted. Tony got an excited gleam in his eyes.

“It’s about surgical interns! Well the interns are the main characters in the beginning but it always changes. Except for Meredith, Meredith’s always the mainest character. Basically in the beginning, it centers around five surgical interns who are training to be surgeons! But it’s also really dramatic and about romance!” He explained happily.

Loki nodded, “That sounds interesting, surgeons are the doctors that cut you right?”

“Basically yes,” Nat interjected before Tony could speak.

Loki hummed, “Interesting indeed.”

xxx

Six and a half hours later, they had finished season one. Well, Nat, Tony and Loki had. Clint had fallen asleep.

“So Lokes,” Tony said, turning to the god, “What’d you think?”

“That was very,” He paused for a second, trying to remember the word, “cool.”

Tony grinned, “Who’re you’re favourites?” 

“Definitely Christina.” Loki said at once, “And I also loved Alex and Dr. Bailey.” 

“And he’s even got great tastes in characters,” Tony fake sniffled. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Want to watch the next season?”

“Alright.”

xxx

“Buck look at this,” Steve waved his friend over, smile on his face.

“You got a camera?” Bucky asked, snickering. Steve nodded and pulled out his Starkphone. The captain furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Swipe.” Bucky said, giving an example with his finger.

“Which way?” Steve asked confusedly. 

“I just showed you which way idiot.” Bucky grumbled, swiping up again. 

“Oh,” Steve nodded, swiping up to the camera. 

_Click!_

xxx

“I don’t see why you’re so upset Tony, I think you look charming.” Natasha grinned, looking at the photo on Steve’s phone.

“ _I’m drooling!_ ” Tony cried while Peter and Shuri laughed hysterically at the photo.

The photo was of Clint, Tony, and Loki all fast asleep on the couch. Clint was splayed out in an awkward position, one arm hanging off the couch and another wrapped around Loki. Loki was asleep with his face buried into Tony’s chest. Tony had both arms wrapped around Loki and his chin was resting on top of Loki’s head. Natasha must have left at some point.

“Yes you are drooling,” Loki stated flatly, “Drooling onto _me_.”

Peter and Shuri laughed more, earning a glare from both Loki and Tony.

“I thought you two were my friends,” Loki said flatly, glaring at the two. 

“Oh we are,” Shuri said, wiping a fake tear from her eye for the dramatics, “But that photo was too funny.”

Both Loki and Tony looked rather upset. Clint looked up at the two after looking at the photo.

“I don’t see what the fuss is, I think I look great.” He said.

“How do you look great!?” Tony cried, throwing his hands in the air.

“I always look great.” Clint defended. 

“Look at the way you’re sleeping!”

“That’s how I’m most comfortable,” Clint shot back, sticking his tongue out.

Tony gave a cry of frustration. 

xxx

“Mr. Stark?” Peter called curiously, walking through the workshop in search of his mentor. Shuri and Loki trailed behind him.

“Yes kiddo?” Tony replied, popping out from seemingly nowhere. Scaring all three children half to death.

“Jeez how do you do that?!” The spiderling said, holding a hand over his heart.

“I know every inch of this place, it’s easy to hide,” Tony shrugged. Peter gave an exasperated look towards the two behind him.

“Uh anyways, can we go out?” Peter asked. None of them missed the way Tony’s lips thinned.

“What do you mean?” He asked tensely.

“Loki’s been really worried lately and we thought that some fresh air that wasn’t the roof would do him good. Oh! And there’s a really good café a couple blocks down!” He finished excitedly.

“No.”

All three teens looked towards Tony confusedly. 

“What?”

“No.” Tony repeated.

“But-”

“Look kid, I said no.” The billionaire said firmly. “Now out, I’m busy.” He said sternly, already turning away from them.

“What the hell was that?” Shuri asked, surprised at the genius’s cold and out-of-character demeanour.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen Mr. Stark like that.” Peter nodded, concern upon his face.

“Mhm,” Loki nodded absentmindedly, staring intently at the scientist.

There was something going on. Something Tony didn’t want them to know.

xxx

“Okay guys, I don’t know what that was,” Peter said, flopping down onto the bed in Shuri’s room, “but I guess since we can’t go out we should find another way to distract ourselves?”

Peter’s question seemed to go unnoticed by the god. He looked to be deep in thought, ignoring both of his friends. 

“Loki?” Shuri asked snapping her fingers.

“Oh, my apologies,” Loki said, looking up at the two with a small smile.

“You good?”

“Yes of course,” Loki waved absentmindedly, “Just thinking.”

“Alright, well what should we do?”

“I’m not really sure what humans do… besides drink alcohol, fight over monopoly and watch TV.” Loki said. Shuri and Peter looked at each other, a withered expression upon their faces.

“Damn we don’t make a good impression do we?” Shuri commented as Peter laughed.

“Well maybe we should explore the tower? I mean there’s over fifty floors and we always stay on the first five, it’s kind of weird we haven’t looked around everywhere because it’s not like Mr. Stark told us they were off limits?”

Shuri clapped her hands, “It sounds like fun to me!”

Loki laughed slightly before looking up at the roof.

“Spirit?” He asked, and his two friends had to stifle a laugh.

“Yes Mr. Laufeyson?” Jarvis replied, and if he could laugh he probably would.

“Are there any parts of the tower that are off limits?” The god questioned. He bit the inside of his cheek as he awaited an answer.

“Workshops five and six are off limits to all but Anthony Stark and Colonel Rhodes. Floor thirteen is prohibited to anyone who is not Anthony Stark, Colonel Rhodes, Natasha Romanoff, or Clint Barton.” Jarvis supplied helpfully.

“Thank you spirit,” Loki nodded.

“Rhodey gets access to a whole floor that not even Steve or us do?” 

“Rhodes is Tony’s closest companion I doubt any area of the tower is off limits towards him.” Loki chimed in.

“That, is true.” Shuri said. “If I had a giant tower there probably wouldn’t be any place off limits for you guys.”

xxx

“Jarvis?” Peter called, looking up. He had his hand on a doorknob.

“Yes Mr. Parker?”

“What’s in this room?”

“That door leads to a mirror maze.” The A.I replied.

“Is… Is Stark a literal child?” Shuri asked in disbelief. What forty year old had a mirror maze?

“Maybe he got it for us?” Peter said, he looked as if he was weighing different possibilities, “I mean, we _are_ kids. And… Mr. Stark doesn’t have any experience with children?” It seemed like he was going off on a limb.

“While that is a rather logical explanation,” Loki started dryly, “With Stark it’s most likely the most illogical explanation.”

“So that means I can continue to believe that Stark got this solely for the purpose of being a giant child?”

“I suppose.” Loki shrugged.

“Guys,” Peter chimed in, “Are we actually going to go play in the random maze, or just stand here talking about Mr. Stark’s questionable motives?”

“Go on in,” Shuri pushed him, grinning, “we’re right behind you”

Loki smiled, watching his two friends antics. Everything felt okay in that moment. Well, perhaps it _should_ have. He couldn’t fight the nagging worry in the back of his mind.

 _Stark is hiding something from me, they all are. What is it? What is it? I need to know. I need to know. I need to know._

Loki swallowed thickly, he could still hear the muffled laughs of Shuri and Peter.

_Asgard is in ruins. Asgard is gone. I wasn’t there to help. It’s my fault. My fault. My fault._

But that was just him worrying right? Tony was his friend, his family even, he wouldn’t hide anything big from Loki. And Asgard had been under attack hundreds of times, this one would be no different. Loki didn’t need to worry, he was just jumping to conclusions.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed it! ty for reading and have an excellent day/evening <3


	11. Hi welcome to C̶h̶i̶l̶i̶'̶s̶ the chapter where everyone wants to beat the author (me) with a baseball bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stress is becoming Loki's new best friend :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this chapter was rewritten like seven fucking times before I said fuck you ao3 fuck you loki fuck you everything and decided to just fucking post this ugly ass chapter

Loki awoke with a start. His eyes blinked open hastily, scanning around his dimly lit room. He took rapid breaths, shifting himself into a sitting position. 

“Sir?”

“Yes spirit?” Loki rasped, still slightly shaken. He bit his lip nervously and looked out the window, what he was looking for, he knew not.

“Are you alright? Your heart rate is elevated.”

“Fine.” He nodded. It was just a bad dream. Or at least, he was pretty sure it was. He couldn’t exactly remember the dream.

Deep in the back of his mind, a body laid on marble floors, coated in blood.

xxx

“You good Lokes?” Tony asked, staring at the god. They were both seated at the breakfast table, Loki seemed to be zoning out. 

“Hm?” The god blinked, snapping out of his trance-like state. Tony scrunched up his face in concern when he saw the bags underneath the god’s eyes. 

“I asked if you were okay.” Tony repeated.

“I’m fine,” Loki replied monotonously. He took another sip from his tea and the room lapsed back into an uncomfortable silence.

Tony eyed the trickster with a mixture of sadness and worry, Loki obviously wasn’t okay, not that he ever really was. 

_It’s your fault you know,_ a voice spat in the back his head, _you’re keeping him locked up in here, anyone would go crazy after long enough._

 _I **have** to._ He seethed back at the voice, trying his best to shake his guilt. 

xxx

_Asgard is fine. Asgard is fine. Asgard is fine. Asgard is fine. Asgard is fine._

“Movie Night!” Tony exclaimed excitedly as he strolled into the kitchen. Everyone else was seated at the rather large dinner table. 

“Movie Night but first, an announcement.” Steve corrected. 

“Oh yeah announcement.” Tony nodded, 

“Listen up kids,” Tony clapped his hands together, “We’re going to be getting some new residents tomorrow... That is all- no it is not?” He said- well, asked, looking at Steve who was shaking his head. 

“The new members have actually been Avengers for quite some time. They’ve been on a mission for a while so we’d like to welcome them with open arms. We will be welcoming five new teammates tomorrow so just try and make yourselves presentable.” Steve smiled tightly. 

“But now that that’s all done, pizza or chinese?”

xxx

They ended up ordering both. Loki had never had Chinese, he supposed it wasn’t too bad.

Of course, then they had to decide in between movies. Choosing movies always gave off a dangerous aura, believe it or not. The entire tower would divide into sides, almost yelling over which movie to pick. Loki always found it quite amusing to watch the chaos unfold in front of him.

In the end, they ended up choosing two. The Breakfast Club, which Loki had thoroughly enjoyed, and the Princess and the Frog, which they were currently watching.

Loki, Shuri, Peter, Tony, Clint and Nat were cuddled up on the biggest couch, a mess of blankets and tangled limbs.

Steve, Bucky, and T’Challa were seated on another couch, while Rhodey and Bruce had taken to two armchairs.

“Ugh I love Tiana so much,” Peter groaned, using Shuri’s head as a pillow, “Why can’t she be real?” He whined. Loki chuckled slightly.

“I’d rather Naveen be real.” Tony chimed in, “He's obviously the best looking. Although Tiana does make a really attractive frog.” 

The three children next to him laughed.

While Loki really didn’t understand the difference in between mondays and fridays, (seeing as he didn’t have a job or go to school) this seemed like the perfect way to spend a friday night.

_Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong._

xxx

The next day came quickly, and soon Loki was standing in front of a mirror while fretting. He anxiously tucked and untucked a loose strand of hair from his messy bun behind his ear over and over, unable to choose which made him look less crazy. He looked himself up and down with a sour look upon his face, _I believe I might just be incapable of looking sane,_ he muttered in his head.

“You look fine,” A voice came from the open doorway. Loki turned his head to see Peter and Shuri standing in the hallway, he smiled at them softly and chuckled. “I doubt that.”

“I’m telling you,” Shuri said, walking into the room, “You look great.” Peter flashed a toothy grin.

“I’m not so sure…” Loki trailed off, looking into the mirror once more, “Do you think I should change?” He looked at his outfit questionably. He was wearing a dark green sweatshirt with its sleeves scrunched up to his elbows and rolled up jeans with black socks.

“No no I like your outfit,” Peter shook his head, “Very hipster.” 

“You know I still don’t know what that word means,” Loki sighed. Shuri giggled, “Look it up later, because we should probably go down to the common room now.”

“But what if they don’t like me? I mean, on Midgard first impressions are important no? And I made a rather horrible one if you ask me.” He chuckled dryly. 

“First impressions aren’t _that_ important, and relax, you’ll be fine. It’s just a new batch of us’s!” 

“Not exactly,” Loki said flatly before being dragged out of his room and down the hallways.

xxx

“Alright. Everyone, I’d like you to meet our newest residents.” Steve spoke clearly, gesturing towards the seven people standing in a line. 

“Hope Van Dyne, Scott Lang, Sam Wilson, Nakia, and Okoye”

Loki eyed each of them individually. Hope looked to be a strong woman, she held her head high and had an air of confidence. Scott looked rather out of place, already, he reminded Loki of a giant child. Sam was obviously a military man, they held themselves differently, Loki had noticed. Nakia was looking at T’Challa with a soft smile, perhaps they knew each other? Okoye gave of the same confident aura as Hope, Loki admired it.

“Nice to meet you all.” Hope nodded apprehensively as she spoke. “Good to see you Cap.” She grinned with a playful glare in her eyes. Loki didn’t miss the way Scott narrowed his eyes at her as she called him Cap.

Loki nervously played with the hem of his sweatshirt as he watched the new people interact with everyone.

“Good to have you back Sam.” Steve clapped Wilson on the back. Sam grinned. “Good to be back, well except for now I have to see him daily.” He said while looking over at Barnes. “I hate you.” Bucky stated plainly.

When Loki turned his head to where Scott, Hope, Nat, Clint and Bruce were talking, he noticed that Scott and Hope seemed to stick together. He assumed they might have known each other from even before they became heroes, judging by the way they acted. 

Flicking his eyes over to another group, Loki saw that Nakia and Okoye were both with T’Challa, who Loki had never seen quite as happy. Nakia laughed at something Okoye said and then pecked the king on the cheek. 

Oh. They were in a relationship. Loki wondered how practical that was for superheroes. 

“No one’s talking to us.” Peter pouted. 

“Of course not, we’re the children.” Shuri stated matter of factly.

“We should be grateful for that.” Loki muttered.

xxx

_Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down._

xxx

Peter sang along quietly to the song on his phone, a small smile on his face. He watched the blades of the fan go ‘round and ‘round as he laid on his bed, not really paying attention to his surroundings. 

Shuri stuck her tongue out in a rather comical sense, adorning a look of sheer concentration. Her hair was done up in two cute looking space buns and she was wearing an oversized pink hoodie.

Loki had his left hand fanned out on a piece of paper and the other at his side as he watched Shuri paint his nails. He, personally, thought the colour she was using was very nice. He didn’t know the exact colour, but it looked to be a forest green. Cute. 

“-roid of me dancing in my room. I want to remember, I think it was about noon-” Peter sang happily before stopping abruptly, “Hey! You know what I just realized!?” He cried, turning over onto his stomach with newfound energy. 

“Hm?” Loki hummed, turning to look at his friend.

“We never hang out in your room, I literally have no idea what it looks like.” Peter said to the trickster. 

“Oh,” He stated dumbly, “we can go look if you’d like, it’s not as if it’s off limits.” Loki shrugged. Peter nodded excitedly. 

“Sure we can go, right after I paint your nails too,” Shuri replied, eyeing Peter.

“Ooh! Do them pink!”

xxx

_Stop worrying. Stop worrying. Stop worrying. Stop worrying._

xxx

“Password required,” An automated voice beeped out from the keypad beside Loki’s door. Loki looked back at the two behind him and shrugged, they were superheroes, if they ever wanted to break in, they’d find a way whether or not he gave them the password.

“Draconis.” He replied, speaking clearly so that the machine would hear him. Behind him, Shuri and Peter snickered. 

“Password accepted.”

The door slid open with ease, revealing a room that was rather dark, considering the giant drapes that covered the windows.

“Nerd.” Shuri teased as they entered the room. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, it’s much too dark in here.” Loki said distastefully. With a flick of his hand, the drapes moved themselves away from the windows, letting light filter in.

“Woah,” Peter breathed out, looking around the room with wide eyes.

The room was around the same size as theirs, with grey, almost green, walls and dark hardwood floors. In the far corner, was a queen sized bed with a canopy frame, the covers, of course, were a dark grey. Beside the bed, was a little black nightstand with two drawers. On top of it, was a lamp, a half empty glass of water, and a rather old looking book with a red cover and gold detailing.

On the walls, were two paintings and two shelves. The first painting was of an off world ocean on a cloudy day. The second was of a very beautiful woman. She was wearing a green robe with silver detailing and a tiara that matched. Her eyes were gentle and kind, her mouth curved upwards in a loving smile. The first shelf held a few books, most likely important ones or ones from Asgard seeing as though Loki could access anything he wanted to on his Starkpad. The second shelf held three small succulents.

“Oh my god!” Peter cried, running over to the plants. “How are you doing that!?” 

Above the collection of succulents, was a small group of miniature clouds. Tiny droplets of water fell from them and onto the plants.

“Magic.” Loki grinned, waving his hands with a shimmer of green.

“But what about sunlight?” Shuri asked.

Loki waved his hand once more and the rain stopped. A small orange and yellow orb popped out of seemingly nowhere, filtering its light through the clouds until they all but disappeared.

“It’s synthetic sunlight of course, but it works all the same.” He explained, smiling softly at the amazed look on their faces.

“This is the coolest fucking bedroom ever.”

“Agreed.”

xxx

_Asgard is **fine.** _

xxx

Three days later, Loki awoke to the whole tower rumbling. His eyes snapped open and he rocketed into a sitting position. With record speed, he raced out of his room and down the halls, running up the stairs as if there was a Bilgesnipe behind him.

When Loki finally arrived to the roof he stopped dead in his tracks. His brother stood in the middle of the Bifrost’s mark, looking more tired and worn out than Loki had ever seen. His face was bruised and cut beyond belief and his armour was a tattered mess. 

Eyes searching his brother’s body for injuries wildly, Loki zeroed in on the blood coating Thor’s hands. That was **not** Elf’s blood. Thor’s eyes looked dull, almost dead. 

Loki’s whole world stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was also going to as Carol (Captain Marvel) and Kamala (Ms Marvel) because theyre two of my absolute favourites but then I decided nah bc a lot of people probably don't know kamala and carol would be hard to write in character just because we don't know how the mcu is going to change her personality from the comics lmao
> 
> anyways im so sorry for this garbage chapter
> 
> tune in next time for; Keira (me) beats the shit out of loki for absolutely no reason :)


	12. :(

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(

Loki hadn’t left his room in weeks. Seven, to be exact. For almost two months, Loki had laid on the carpeted floor of his room, staring up at the ceiling, a cold dead emptiness inside his eyes.

He hadn’t tried to lock anyone out, no, anyone was welcome to come in and talk, he just wouldn’t respond. 

_“Loki?” Peter called cautiously, stepping into the room. His eyes scanned around for a second before zeroing in on the deity on the floor. Peter felt his chest tighten. Carefully, he walked over to Loki and sat down. He reached out towards Loki’s hand, grabbing it, and stroked it gently with his thumb, much like he had when Loki had been having a panic attack up on the roof._

_The only indication that Loki even knew he was there was the new wave of tears pouring down the god’s face._

There was a gentle knocking at the door. “Loki?”

May entered the room quietly, looking around. Books were strewn across the ground, from Loki’s angry outburst no doubt, the drapes were shut tightly, not letting any light in whatsoever, and there was a shelf of wilting plants by one of the lopsided bookshelves.

Loki was there, in the middle of the room, curled up in a ball, small sniffles were the only sign that he was even alive. May felt her heart clench. She walked over and sat beside him. “Hey sweetie,” She greeted, voice wavering.

“I’m sorry about what happened.” She said. “So _so_ sorry… I only met her for a couple days, but… your mother was exactly what you’d expect from a queen. Strong, sweet, passionate, beautiful, and so much more.” 

Loki remained silent. 

“She loved you. You and your brother. Sure she loved other things too, like strawberries,” May let out a wet chuckle, “But more than anything she loved you.”

“You didn’t know her.” Loki whispered. “Not truly.”

May blinked. From what she had heard, Loki hadn’t spoken since _that_ day. “No, I didn’t.” She agreed. “But I know you.”

“Sure, I don’t visit too often, but when I do, I get to know you, her son. You’re kind, and mischievous, and daring, and a bit strange,” She let out a half hearted laugh, “and so so smart. And that’s how I know she was a good mother. Hell, she was a great one. A perfect one. She taught you so much, loved you so much. The way her face lit up when someone talked about you, god, it was like she had gotten the ability to see for the first time. Like nothing else in the universe mattered. Well, except for Thor maybe.”

The silence continued.

“I just miss her so much,” Loki choked out, voice raw from not speaking. May nodded, “I know sweetheart.”

Loki sobbed again, shoulders shaking. May put a tentative hand on his shoulder, he flinched at first, but then melted into her touch. Slowly, he sat up. His cheeks were sunken in, his eyes were sad and tired, dull and lifeless, and his whole body shook. May felt her heart clench.

“I miss her.” Loki whispered. Tears flowed down his hollowed out cheeks, falling onto his pale shaking hands. May nodded. 

Carefully, she pulled the crying god into her arms, resting her chin upon the top of his head and holding him close. Loki held onto her for dear life, loud sobs wracking his frail body.

_“The frost giant runt, where shall we keep it?”_

_“Loki.”_

_“What?” Odin asked, turning around to face the queen, who stood beside the cradle._

_“His name is Loki, he is our son and he shall remain here, with his brother and I.” Frigga stated, leaving zero room for objection._

_Odin stared at her, eyes narrowed as if trying to decipher a code. “Very well.” He gritted out._

_The King left the room without another word._

_As soon as he left, Frigga grabbed the baby from the bassinet, a soft smile upon her face._

_The baby, who was wrapped tightly in a fur blanket, looked up at her with his big green curious eyes. She tilted her head in endearment._

_“My little Loki,” She whispered, stroking the side of his face._

_“I swear to protect you till the day I die,” She promised, raising him in the air, “You are my child, no matter what anyone says.” Frigga touched their noses together, Loki giggled._

_“You are beautiful, my star, never forget that.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(


	13. oh hi thanks for checking in i'm stiLL HIDING SHIT FROM LOKI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Logan" gets professional help and gets even more suspicious about what the fuck Tony's doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this takes place months after last chapter btw!  
> anyways these next chapters are going to be fun bc it's like the calm before the storm lmao except there's going to be multiple storms and multiple calms because i'm never letting this fic die

Loki fidgeted with his hands restlessly, staring up at the clock and gritting his teeth. He paused momentarily to pull a loose thread from his sweater, grumbling when it only grew longer the more he pulled. 

“So Logan,” The woman seated across from him started, “It’s been a couple of weeks since you started seeing me, would you say our meetings have been helping you or not?”

“I’m not sure.” He replied, not putting much thought or care into his answer. The woman’s eyes flicked down to where he was cracking his knuckles. 

“Well, would you say your anxieties have lessened since you started talking to me?”

“In all honesty Mrs. Walters-”

“Remember? call me Ellie.”

“... In all honesty Ellie, I haven’t been paying much attention to my ‘anxieties’, nor do I intend to.” Loki answered, looking up at the clock once more. Ellie sighed.

“Look Logan, I’m not used to this. I mean, doing sessions in Stark tower instead of my office? For a patient I have no background information on? You’ve got to understand that I’m trying my best here, but this isn’t going to work if you don’t try too.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at her, pursing his lips together. He pressed his nails into his palms. “All right.” He agreed stiffly. “In all honesty, _Ellie_ , my ‘anxieties’ have not worsened, nor have they improved. My theory for why is that these meetings are inexplicably futile and you even attempting to talk to me is just as pointless.”

Ellie studied him for a minute, a strand of hair falling from her bun and in front of her face. She pushed it behind her ear as she scribbled something down on her clipboard. “So no improvements yet.” She documented. Loki rolled his eyes. 

The rest of the session was relatively the same; Ellie pushing Loki to speak and Loki giving her nothing but dust. She didn’t seem to mind though. 

It was only towards the end of their meeting that she said something Loki actually cared about.

“Okay Logan, can’t say this was my best meeting… but I definitely got some things down.” She said, standing from the stiff wooden chair. Loki scoffed. “Mr. Stark told me they’d rather keep you off medications, so I’ll prescribe you something else.”

xxx

“A therapy animal?” Steve asked incredulously, staring at the papers. 

“While Mrs. Walters explained nothing to me, I believe it has something to do with animals and therapy.” Loki said flatly, earning a flick on the forehead from Shuri. He narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Tony look at these,” Steve said, moving over to the kitchen table so the inventor could see. Tony grabbed them with one hand, shovelling cereal into his mouth with the other. He furrowed his brow. 

“A cat? Don’t most people get like… therapy dogs?” He asked, reading down further. 

“We didn’t really have therapy animals back in my time but I think so… But Ellie’s been really good about everything lately, maybe we should just take her word on it.” Steve replied, earning an apprehensive nod from Tony.

“The only reason she’s been ‘really good about everything’, is because she believes me to be Logan, a college student studying under Tony Stark, not Loki, god of mischief and lies.” Loki snarked from the couch. 

“Look Lokes, I know you don’t like her that much, but I promise you these sessions are important and helpful. And you know that if you ever feel like they’re doing more bad than good we’ll get you out of them.”

“She’s a complete stranger, who wants me to simply open up about everything in my life, which, by the way, is impossible for me to do without informing her that I’m not of earth.” He replied dryly. 

“I know, but we want you to try your best, god of lies right? You can bend the truth a little, warp your stories to make ‘em plausible. That’s not hard right?” Tony asked, handing the papers back to Steve.

“I suppose…” Loki said halfheartedly. Steve looked up from the papers to the godling.

“Loki what do you think of this?” He asked, gesturing to the papers.

“I don’t exactly see how a furry companion could help me… but I have always been fond of animals.” Loki mumbled the last part. Peter and Shuri grinned at each other. 

“If you’re on board we’re on board.” Steve smiled.

“And I think having an animal in the tower would be fun! All Mr. Stark has here is robots.” Peter commented, looking over at the inventor. 

“My bots are great companions!”

Worry settled in the back of Tony’s mind. He didn’t really know how Loki was going to be able to pick a cat without leaving the tower… but he’d figure it out. 

xxx

Steve had no clue how Tony had managed to get this many cats into a room in the tower… in all honesty it would probably be good to just ignore it. 

The room smelled like hand sanitizer and cat food. Loki wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Cats and kittens of all sizes padded around the room, jumping and laying on just about every surface. 

“Why did we not just go to where they sell them?” Loki asked Tony, who was standing in the corner. 

“What’s the fun of being a billionaire if you can’t use it for stuff like this?” The billionaire grinned. Loki narrowed his eyes. That was a lie. And a rather blatant one at that. Why Tony was lying about something as trivial as feline’s, he had no clue.

“Hey! It’s a room full of T’Challa’s!” Scott exclaimed, stepping into the room, the Wakandan King right behind him. 

“Very funny.” T’Challa said flatly. 

“So Lokes, which one of them do you want?” Scott asked, looking over at the god who was eyeing all of the animals. 

“I’m not sure yet.” He mumbled. His eyes flicked across the room, watching the kittens run around happily and the older one’s lounge in the sun. He leant down to one of the kittens, petting it’s fur softly. It purred happily before running towards a bigger cat excitedly.

_Momma! Momma! That one’s colder than the other human’s! I think he’s different!_

Loki decidedly rather quickly he didn’t like that one. 

Looking around once more, he was drawn to the cat sitting in the corner, all by itself. It had long black fur with a bushy tail and green eyes. And it was watching him. 

Loki sauntered over slowly, taking in its appearance. _Hello,_ he greeted. 

The feline looked up to him, green eyes almost matching his own. He felt his magic tugging towards it.

 _Hello child,_ she replied, not blinking. _What do they call you?_

 _Loki_ , He told her, _and you?_

She flicked her tail once. _I have no name, I’ve never had an owner._

 _That’s silly, what do the others call you then?_ He asked her, kneeling down to sit.

_The others and I do not speak._

_Well why not?_ Loki asked, furrowing his brow. She looked over at the other cats.

 _You see them? The adults with children are much too busy for someone like myself. And those without children lounge in the sun for hours. I’ve never been fond of the heat, I’d rather hide in the shade._ She told him.

_And the children? Surely they would be interested in your wisdom._

_I do not know what land you come from, strange one, but here, children have no regard for my ‘wisdom’. I spend my days alone._ She stated, laying her head down on her paws and letting out a huff of air. 

_Would you like that to change?_ He asked. She craned her neck up at him. _I came in search of a companion and you seem like a rather good fit._

 _Are you sure? You barely spared those kittens a glance._ She said, rolling onto her side to look at them. Loki shook his head.

_Those kittens are much too loud and excited, you’re the one I want._

The cat looked to be contemplating for a moment, Loki couldn’t be sure. _All right then._ She decided, _I have been on my lonesome for quite some time… and I’ve never met a human who could speak to me._

 _I’m not human,_ He explained as he stood.

_Ah, that makes sense. Although you can’t blame me for thinking it, you do look the part._

Loki chuckled, looking over to Tony. “This one. I want her.”

xxx

“This is the one you picked?” Peter asked, leaning down to pet the cat. She leaned into his touch, purring happily. Loki nodded. 

“She’s friendly,” the spiderling laughed, “What’s her name?”

“She doesn’t have one, although she says she likes yours.” Loki said, scratching behind her ear. Peter stopped looking up at the godling with wide eyes.

“How do you know she said that?” 

“She told me.” Loki stated simply, as if it was nothing. Peter jaw dropped. 

“You can understand her? She can understand _you?_ ”

“Of course,” Loki shrugged, “It’s an ability I’ve always had-”

“Shuri!” Peter cried, racing out the door excitedly, “ _Shuri!_ ”

Loki chuckled. 

xxx

 _So this is where you sleep?_ The cat asked, walking around Loki’s room.

_Indeed._

_It’s quite nice,_ she crooned, _very dark._

 _Would you like me to open the drapes?_ He asked, sitting down on the bed.

 _No no child, I’m quite fond of the dark._ She said, jumping up onto the bed. Loki smiled reaching out to pet her. 

_So about your name, or lack thereof,_ Loki started, still petting her.

 _Yes? Have you decided on a name for me?_ She looked up at him, green eyes wide. Loki furrowed his brow.

_I was thinking it might have been better if you named yourself-_

_No thank you._ She said simply. Loki’s eyes widened.

 _Why not?_ He asked.

 _My child, I have been alone for years. To be named by someone else, a stranger even, would be thousands of times better than naming myself._ She told him.

 _Well then, I’ll have to think about it._ He smiled.

He liked to think that she would have smiled back if she could.

xxx

Loki entered the common room quietly, scanning his surroundings, a habit he had become accustomed to. 

He saw Okoye and Hope on the couch, talking casually. Nakia and T’Challa were standing at the bar, both laughing. Tony and Bruce were seated at the table, also talking. Hope looked up and smiled at him. 

“Hey Loki, how’s the cat?”

“She’s good.” Loki nodded, “She likes my room.”

“I’m glad,” Okoye grinned, “Have you thought of a name yet?”

“Not yet.” He said, walking over to sit with them. Tony craned his neck around.

“Can you really talk to her?” He asked, sounding like an excited child. Loki grinned.

“I can.” The trickster confirmed. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, yet another habit he’d developed. 

“I hate how nonchalant you are about that. Do you not realize how _cool_ that is!?” Tony cried, earning another laugh from Loki.

“I’ve always been able to do it. For me it’s just… normal.”

“Yeah but not for me it isn’t! How do you do it?”

“It’s magic,” Loki shrugged. Tony narrowed his eyes. 

“Horrible explanation. How does it _work?_ ” The billionaire questioned.

“It doesn’t ‘work’ in a way you understand, Tony. Magic bends the fabric of reality, it’s not truly a comprendable subject.” Loki said. Both Hope and Okoye rolled their eyes at the antics. Tony and Loki were always squabbling about magic.

“If it exists, then I’ll figure out a way to understand it. Everything in the universe is science Loki. Everything _ever_ is science.” The philanthropist shot back. Loki turned away.

“Not this.” He replied simply. Tony ran a hand over his face and slammed his face into the table. 

“I’m going to figure it out Lokes, I swear.”

“Go ahead,” The godling quipped nonchalantly, “No one’s stopping you.”

Tony groaned, much to everyone else’s amusement.

xxx

It was late. Loki rolled over in his bed, looking up towards the clock. 4:00 A.M. shone back at him in bleary red. He sighed and rolled back onto his back, looking up at the ceiling.

 _Storm._ He said, still staring up at nothing, Beside him, the cat shifted.

 _Hm?_ She asked, stretching out her two front legs. 

_Storm,_ He repeated, _How does that sound to you?_

The cat got up, walking over so she was pressed against his side. 

_I think it sounds wonderful._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> isn't storm cute!? I love her so much I just want to hug her :')
> 
> she's actually based on my cat, fluffball whom I love lots!
> 
> anyways ty all for reading I hope you all have an excellent day/evening <3


	14. a bunch of dudes, hanging up on the roof (with loki) five feet apart cause they arent pedophiles! part two!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part two! ft. scott, hope, and okoye !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The very first part of this, with Peter and Tony, does NOT take part on the roof!! Just to avoid any confusion :')
> 
> tw for: anorexia and mentions of torture

“Hello Peter,” Loki greeted, watching Peter trudge back from school. The boy had his shoulders slumped, looking rather tired and defeated, though, almost anyone would look like that after school. 

“Hey Loki,” Peter smiled half-heartedly at the God. Loki narrowed his eyes watching him carefully.

“Hey kiddo,” Tony chirped, walking into the common room briskly. He had an unusual amount of energy, must have been caffeine.The scientist stopped abruptly when he saw the teen, “Everything alright?”

Peter bit his lip, looking as if he was contemplating what to say. “Sort of,” He replied. 

Tony furrowed his brow, “What’s wrong?” He asked. Peter hesitated, letting a silence fall over them.

“There’s this kid from school,” the teen started, “and I think he needs help.”

Tony nodded slowly, “What kind of help?”

“Um… I don’t think it’s safe for him at home. Like… his dad… I think he… hurts him.”

Loki, who was still listening, pursed his lips.

Tony swallowed thickly, nodding once more. “Do you want me to call CFS?”

“No,” Peter shook his head vehemently, “Child services in this part of the city are _really_ bad. Especially with poc kids.”

Tony took a breath. “Okay, does he have any family he could relocate with?”

“I don’t know, we aren’t exactly friends.”

“That’s okay, you’re doing a good thing right now, don’t feel bad about it kiddo.” The billionaire comforted slightly. “Just give me his name and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Flash Thompson.”

Tony hesitated looking up at Peter. “As in the Flash Thompson that bullies you?” 

“Mr. Stark I know he hasn’t been the nicest to me, but if you’re really considering not helping him because of that-”

“Hey hey,” Tony interrupted him, eyes wide, “That’s not what I meant at all kid. It’s just, after all that... This is a really good thing you’re doing.”

Peter smiled sadly. “Well, no one deserves that.”

Loki looked back down at his book, shaking his head. Only Peter would be nice enough to care this much about their childhood bully.

xxx

“Hey Lokster.”

“No wait that was stupid forget I called you that.” 

“Hello Scott,” Loki chuckled halfheartedly before going silent once more, wrapping his arms around himself. Scott frowned. He walked over to the edge of the roof where Loki was sitting.

“You alright?” He asked, sitting down beside the godling. Loki bit his lip, glassy eyes scanning over the illuminated city. The night sky overtop of them shone beautifully.

“I suppose.” He replied quietly. It didn’t take a genius to know that was a lie. Scott looked over at the trickster. He pursed his lips.

“I saw you didn’t eat anything for dinner tonight.” The former thief remarked. Loki’s breath quickened, though only slightly, it was just enough for Scott to notice.

“I wasn’t hungry.” He mumbled. 

“And the night before.”

Loki looked away, and despite being outside, Scott could feel the air around them drop in temperature. 

“I’m not going to force you into anything kiddo, but you can talk to me, especially about something like this.”

Loki looked over, intrigued. Scott bit the inside of his cheek, wondering if he should continue. Maybe hearing about someone else’s experience would persuade the kid to share about his own.

But it was hard. Not that Scott wanted to admit it, but he hadn’t truly spoken to anyone about it. He wasn’t sure whether he could or not.

“When I was in highschool,” He started hesitantly, a weary look in his eyes, “I was picked on… a lot. And the kids they had a lot of control over me. They’d force me to do things and then they’d make fun of me and beat me. Guess that’s why I can’t say those were the good ol’ days… But I uh, I started looking for other ways to gain control.”

“And besides my whole need for power or something I thought if I was fitter they might stop picking on me. So I… I started eating a lot less, and at one point it got pretty bad. I’m better now but… Even though it’s not that big of a deal, I just want you to know that you can tell me about this, I’m all ears.” He joked weakly, though the tired look in his eyes was enough to give away that it indeed was a big deal, no matter how much he tried to play it off like it was nothing. Loki smiled sadly at Scott, then looked back at the city. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. 

“When I was…” Loki started quietly. “Nevermind this is absurd.” He shook his head, eyes watering considerably. 

“Hey,” Scott said softly, “No it isn’t.”

“Yes it is,” Loki laughed wetly, “Ever since I got here I’ve been so… sentimental. It’s stupid.”

“Being open about your emotions isn’t stupid Loki, it’s normal.” The former thief said, trying his best to comfort the god. He never was that good at it. The only person he’d ever successfully made stop crying was Cassie. But that was different. Cassie’s fears were the monsters under her bed, the figments of her imagination that began to scare her after she’d gotten just a bit too imaginative. Then again… her newest monster stood at the foot of her bed, not underneath it. Scott never wanted to think about how it must have felt to watch your father kill a man and nearly himself right before your eyes. Every day he wished he hadn’t put her through that, even though he knew it was his only way of saving her. 

Cassie was afraid of imaginary monsters, and Loki was afraid of real ones. Cassie had no problem showing she was scared, but Loki did. So Scott would have to approach the young god from another angle.

“I know it sucks having to talk about your problems kid. Hell, that eating thing was years and years ago and it still hurts like a bitch to talk about. But bottling them up, your problems, your fears, that sucks even more. I _promise_ you can trust me.” The electrical engineer put a tentative hand on Loki’s shoulder, praying to every god except the one in front of him that it wasn’t the wrong move. Thankfully, Loki didn’t recoil from his touch. He actually seemed to lean into it. Although discreetly. 

Scott knew he sucked at being serious. He was just the comic relief. The dumbass who made a life-or-death scenario just slightly less unbearable. That was it. It should have been Hope or Tony up there with Loki, not him. But it wasn’t, so he was going to have to keep trying his best. If not for Loki then for himself. to prove he wasn’t a complete dickhead.

“It’s scary being open about how you feel but I promise your shoulders will feel a lot less heavy once you do. I won’t judge you, you know that.”

Loki nodded, swallowing thickly. “Alright,” He rasped out. That alone surprised Scott. Loki only really talked about how he was feeling with the ‘OG Avengers’, as Peter and Shuri called them. The new members, despite growing close to the god, had yet to see this side of him. Scott almost felt proud of himself.

“When I was with Him, I didn’t have any control over anything.” Loki started, distant look in his eyes. It was obvious he saw this as something hurting his pride. Scott absolutely hated the way Odin had drilled this need to be a ‘man’ into Loki’s head. He swore if he ever met that old bitch… 

“I mean, that much should be obvious, I was his prisoner. I’m not sure how things work on earth but after watching ‘Orange is the new Black’ I’m pretty sure I at least understand they don’t have much freedom either. Not a great analogy I know, you already told me how unrealistic the show is but it’s all I have to compare,” Loki laughed dryly. 

Suddenly, Loki looked over sharply at Scott. The latter’s eyes widened. “You won’t be telling anyone about this discussion, correct?”

Scott looked as though he was trying to blink the disbelief out of his eyes, which was dumb, he knew. “What? God no. Of course not Loki. I’d never ever tell anyone about this. It’s our secret, I promise.” He shook his head. Loki nodded slowly. 

After a few minutes of silence, the god continued. 

“I… I’m not starving myself though- sorry,” He apologized when Scott flinched. “S’okay.” The engineer smiled softly. 

“I’m truly not though. I just… don’t have an appetite. It’s not even about control. It’s not even about what, what He did to me. It’s… I just don’t wish to eat. I look down at the food on my plate and I find it absolutely repulsive. I just feel… sad. I haven’t had much of an appetite since… since then. I’m aware that’s stupid and it’s stupid because it’s been months since anything of any actual importance happened and I have no true reason to be upset but…”

“Oh hey, Loki no don’t say that.” Scott said shaking his head. “You don’t need to have an excuse for feeling sad. You don’t need a reason to be upset. It’s okay that you’re sad kid, everyone is at some point. And don’t be upset with yourself because it’s only been a few months. You’re a god Lokes, a few months is pretty short for someone who lives thousands of years. And grieving has no designated length. You can be sad for as long as you want, I promise you that. But, if just once at every meal, you could try taking a couple bites, just for me, I’d really appreciate it. Even two is a big step.”

“I suppose…” Loki said, eyes scanning across the city. Scott stood up slowly, trying to ignore the way his joints cracked and made him feel old. (they’d been doing that since he was twelve but still.)

“Scott?” Loki called, just as he had reached the door that led back inside. He turned around. 

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime pal,” Scott smiled.

xxx

“I thought I might find you up here,” Okoye smiled, standing by the stairwell. Loki had his back turned to her, staring off at the city. She had asked multiple times why he was permitted to that, why _any_ of them were, but she never got a clear answer. One of these days someone was going to fall, and they wouldn’t have anyone to blame but themselves. “I’m told you come up here a lot.”

“Is there something you want from me?” Loki asked, not turning his head. 

“Not really,” She said, looking up at the clear blue skies, “although, you’ve seemed a little distant lately.” 

“I am not ‘distant’,” He snarked, “But if you don’t have anything to actually say, I’d appreciate it if you left.”

“Oh that’s much too bad, because I was planning on sticking around for the rest of the day. We could just hang out, talk about our feelings-”

“Go away Okoye,” Loki hissed angrily, shoulders tensing. 

“That,” Okoye pointed at him, “That right there. You’ve been hostile to everyone lately. The other children have been very upset by it. Scott included.” She told him. Loki slouched considerably, letting out a sigh.

“I know,” He mumbled, “I’m… sorry.”

Okoy hopped up onto the ledge so she was facing the city as well. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“No.”

“I figured as much.” She said shaking her head.

“Loki, there’s obviously something that’s bugging you. I know you’d like nothing more than to brood in silence like a dark prince but that won’t do anyone good. The only thing you’re succeeding in doing is saddening the princess and Peter.”

Loki bit his lip at the mention of his two friends, looking down. Okoye didn’t want to push him too far. She remained quiet. 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into me as of late.” Loki whispered, not taking his eyes off the city, “Ever since I started living here I’ve been… different. Kinder, less angry. I’ve even started being more honest and… sentimental. I’ve never been one for sentiment, I think it’s you humans that are influencing me. Humans always have been disgustingly fond of expressing their feelings.” He said, eyes narrowed as if he was annoyed with the entire human race. Okoye almost wanted to laugh. “I haven’t the slightest clue as to why but I think it’s ‘rubbing off’ on me, no matter how much I’d like to deny it.”

“The fact that you think that’s even a reason to be upset just shows what a horrible place Asgard is.” Okoye commented as if it was nothing. 

Loki turned his head sharply, “What?”

“I don’t mean to offend you, I know you grew up there, and there’s most likely some amazing aspects but… overall it’s a horrible place that teaches horrible things.” She said, and he almost laughed. Almost.

“Being honest, kind, sentimental. Those are good qualities Loki. That’s what people aspire to be. You should be proud of how you’ve changed. And if Asgard taught you anything other then that, they can go fuck themselves.” She said, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

Loki turned to look at her with wide eyes. That was the first time he had heard her swear. He let out a laugh, making her grin. 

“Perhaps you’re right.” He said, tone much lighter.

“Of course I am,” She winked.

xxx

When Hope found him, he was crying.

She approached him slowly, gently placing a hand on one of his shaking shoulders. Gradually, they shifted until she was embracing him, holding his head close to her heart and feeling each sob. 

She didn’t know what to say then, she wasn’t sure why he was upset. Quite a lot had happened to him and she didn’t want to make assumptions. 

After a while, his cries quieted and she could barely hear his sniffles over the sound of New York’s ever present traffic. 

“Better?” She asked quietly after they had separated. He nodded subtly. 

They spent the next bit in a comfortable silence. Neither of them were very talkative, so any conversation would have felt forced. 

“You wanna talk about it?” She asked after a certain bout of time. Loki laughed flatly. 

“Not exactly.”

“That’s fine, I’m not going to pressure you into anything,” She said, “But you know, if you talk about it you’ll feel a lot”

“-better, I’m aware,” He cut in, exhaling in an annoyed sort of way. He then sighed, sounding much to tired for someone the equivalent of eighteen. 

The tears started up once more. Loki’s lip quivered dangerously, and he looked to be on the brink of hysterics. Hope felt concern rise at how fast the change had come. She didn’t know how to comfort him but she prayed she wasn’t doing more bad than good.

“It’s- It’s stupid. It’s absurd. I’m horrible for even thinking it but…” 

Loki paused momentarily, 

“I… I actually _miss him_ ,” He whispered, and he sounded so lost and afraid that Hope swore her heart shattered. 

“He was _horrible_ to me. He tortured me. He… he ruined me.”

“And yet… He told me he loved me. He told me I was his child, that I could trust him. And I did. There was a period where I think I truly did love him as my father. And then… He used it against me.”

“But for some reason I miss him. And I hate it. I despise myself for even thinking it- I-”

Loki dissolved back into sobs at that. Folding in on himself as he cried. 

Hope felt tears of her own brimming. Seeing Loki like this affected her more than she wanted to admit. She hadn’t seen what he’d been like before Thanos, but she knew it wasn’t this. Thor had told them, about how Loki had been before. Quiet, withdrawn, extremely slow to let down his guard. 

Hope was glad that Loki opened up to them, but the reason why was enough to make her heart clench. The fact that Loki couldn’t even contain his emotions, no matter how desperately he tried, was concerning for a number of reasons.

“It’s okay,” Hope soothed, holding the sobbing teen close, “It’s okay.”

Loki cried into her chest, not even caring about his pride in that moment. He was just so _angry_ at himself for missing Him. He was disgusted by the mere thought of it.

Gently, Hope pulled them apart so they were facing each other.

“Loki I need you to listen to me, okay?” She asked, he nodded once.

“What happened to you isn’t your fault, and I know you’ve heard that a million times but I need you to know it’s true. He used you, and He hurt you, but that will never, _never_ , be your fault. He tricked you, and it’s okay for you to miss him, I promise you there’s nothing wrong with missing him. You have no reason to upset with yourself, okay?”

He nodded once more, before beginning to sob once more. Hope pulled him in closer. “Just remember that,” She whispered, “It’s not your fault and it never will be.”

They sat like that for god knows how long, Hope just holding him and comforting him. 

Long after his cries had dissipated, she looked down to see his head lolling forwards, eyes drooping considerably.

“Let’s get you to bed,” She whispered to him.

They ended up falling asleep on the roof. Loki still wrapped protectively in Hope’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> scott, hope, and okoye are three of my absolute favourite characters and i really wanted to incorporate them bonding with loki 
> 
> my favourite ones to write were definitely the scott and hope parts :')
> 
> scott's part was hella fun to write because i really wanted to give his character more depth and i think i at least partially did that hehe 
> 
> okoye's part was actually pretty hard because marvel hates me and doesn't give her enough screen time or important parts for me to know how she'd react in certain situations but i really hate the whole 'okoye and natasha have no emotions and talk like it' trope because theyre two of the biggest dorks ever and i love them
> 
> hope's part was so much fun and i think i may have actually forgotten what i was doing at some points but uh yeah i really wanted her to develop an almost motherly bond with loki, not like she was replacing frigga, but that she was creating her own parental mark in his heart and i'm hoping i at least somewhat achieved that
> 
> as for the flash part, that really just has to do with my fascination in his character. in all the other spider-man movies he's the cool dickhead white boy but in homecoming he's actually a pretty big loser and someone who's character could be explored in a lot of different ways and i am one hundred percent not done with him so expect to see him in upcoming chapters (sorry if you hate him hehe) 
> 
> anyways ty for reading i love u all so so soo much and definitely expect a part three for these whole rooftop chapters :-)


	15. Peter ask me what kind of dad i have. No. Peter, ask me what kind of dad i have. No. Just- ask me what kind of- No. *Zooms in on Harrison* An Abusive one.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flash gets BEAT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER!!!! IF YOU HATE FLASH THOMPSON THAT MUCH THAT A CHAPTER SEMI-ABOUT HIM WILL MAKE YOU STOP READING THIS FIC:::: imma put a little summary of what happens in the end notes so you can skip this chap
> 
> warnings::: child abuse
> 
> anyways i'm sorry for the long wait for an update but here we go ! the longest chapter i've written yet ! almost 5k words :')
> 
> and i have zero apologies for the chapter name i saw my chance and i took it idc if its too long

“Hey Peter,” Scott greeted with a mouthful of toast as the spiderling trudged groggily into the kitchen. He smiled tiredly. 

“Hey guys,” He replied, already grabbing a bowl from the cupboard. Peter turned to the pantry, eyes scanning the shelves. His brow furrowed. Turning around, he looked over at the kitchen table. 

“Ah,” He smiled, walking over towards the seating area. He snatched the box of Froot loops off the table, only to frown in dismay at how light it felt. Peering inside, he frowned even more at the emptiness that greeted him. He heard Shuri stifle a laugh beside him. Turning to look, his face adapted an offended look. 

There was Shuri, with a bowl of Froot loops. The last bowl of Froot loops. Peter gasped in mock offense.

“Princess! How dare you?” He cried. “You know those are my favourite.” He whined. Shuri rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.

“Oh please, just ask the rich white man to buy you more.” She replied. Peter frowned once more. He felt a buzz in his pocket and picked up his phone, ignoring the glare he got from the Wakandan princess at the action. 

**8:15 a.m.  
Ned: don’t be late today or MJ will crucify you **

**8:17 a.m.  
Ned: that’s not a joke peter i rlly do believe she’d string us all up on the cross**

**8:25  
Ned: peter where the fRICK are you **

“fuck…” Peter muttered eyes widening, “ _fuck!_ I’m late!” He said, much louder this time. Normally he wasn’t really one for cursing, but he had spent a lot of time around Shuri lately, and she did not care who or what she swore around. Besides, he had forgotten about his decathlon meeting, and he _knew_ that while MJ would act indifferent, she’d be planning the many ways to hide his body internally. 

Both Scott and Shuri shared a look at the high schooler's outburst. “Have fun at school,” the princess cooed as Peter raced away. 

xxx

When Peter finally arrived, he could barely breathe. He took in loud gasps of air, leaning on one of the walls for support. Spider-man or not, running to school from the tower was tiring. 

Actual school hadn’t started, but Peter could hear the little bells ringing inside the gymnasium. Dreading just the thought of showing up late _once again_ , Peter walked over to the gym doors. 

“Hey Peter,” Michelle greeted nonchalantly as he peeked his head into the room, “Nice to see you didn’t miss this one completely.” She smiled tightly and then returned her attention to her friends in front of her. Peter could see Ned staring at him with wide eyes, no doubt wondering why he was late once again.

“Anyways, next question. What’s the capital of-” MJ paused, causing Peter to divert his attention back to her. She was staring intently at someone and/or something, brow furrowed. “Flash? You good?” She asked, almost hesitantly.

Peter’s head snapped over to the young boy seated at the end of his table. That was when the spiderling realized he hadn’t heard one remark from Flash since he entered the gymnasium. 

Normally, when Peter was late for anything, Flash would be the first to comment on it. The first to call him out even before the teacher’s could get in their disapproving looks. 

But today, the younger student had remained quiet. Peter looked over at him, he was staring off into space, a distant look in his eyes. He looked almost… sad. The spiderling hated to think of why.

He had already spoken to Tony about what him and his friends had been speculating but… well, if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure how quickly the problem would be addressed by any professionals other than Stark. Most services had a habit of turning a blind eye on actually serious family issues. 

Peter had never been close with Flash, obviously, but recently, the latter had been showing more and more signs that all wasn’t well at home. And Peter knew he couldn’t just ignore it. No one on the decathlon team could. 

“Flash?” MJ called again, sounding almost concerned. The boy in question blinked a couple of times, as if clearing his head. He looked up and noticed everyone’s eyes on him.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were good,” Michelle told him, still holding everyone’s attention. 

“Uh yeah I’m uh, good yeah.” He nodded absentmindedly, still looking to almost be in some sort of daze. MJ frowned, but continued all the same. Ned and Peter shared a knowing look. ‘

Peter didn’t miss the way Flash favoured his left side as he stood up after the practice had ended.

xxx

The day went by relatively fast, which Peter was definitely grateful for. It was Friday and he couldn’t wait for school to end. 

“And so, it was stated in the accords that…” The teacher’s voice droned on. Slowly, Peter felt his mind drift. He wasn’t concerned though, this lesson wasn’t exactly important. It wasn’t as if he needed to be lectured on the accords. He had literally been there. 

His mind drifted from topic to topic, not really sticking to anything for more than a few minutes. The only thing ever-present was Flash. Peter frowned subconsciously. 

Throughout the year, Flash had actually seemed to calm down. Sure, he still made loud annoying and in all honesty pretty rude comments and jokes, but he wasn’t as bad as he had been. Peter wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. 

Not only that, but Peter would even consider Flash a friend. Something he never would have thought the previous year. But, getting closer to the Thompson boy, Peter and his friends started to notice somethings they never had before. 

Just for starters, Flash _never_ spoke of his father. It was almost like it was taboo. Any time his father was mentioned, Flash became quiet and subdued, like his hyperactivity and smugness had disappeared at the snap of someone’s fingers. No matter when or how his father was brought up, he never took it well. 

That alone was a red flag, but there was more. Flash was always sporting injures, which should have raised more concern, but he always had an excuse. And not just the ‘I fell down the stairs’ excuse for everything, no. He had actually plausible excuses. (But Peter didn’t think any of them were legitimate) Even more, Flash had lost his confidence. Not in an obvious way, but still enough for Peter to notice. He had stopped bragging all together. He’d stopped striving to be the best, stopped striving for anything really. Not to mention that Flash also missed a _lot_ of school. Even by Peter’s standards. (And Peter missed quite a bit) And whenever he returned from any missed day it was almost like he was in a haze, tired and out of it, but he would flinch involuntarily whenever someone approached him.

It really was obvious what was going on but… Peter didn’t want to say it. Just the thought of Flash being abused made his stomach churn.

By now, the whole decathlon team had realized something was up. And while Flash wasn’t exactly their _best_ friend, they obviously weren’t going to sit around and just let it happen. That’s why Peter had told Tony.

His train of thought was interrupted as the lunch bell rang shrilly, ending the class officially.

xxx

“Hey guys,” Peter greeted, sitting down at their lunch table. Betty smiled up at him while Abe waved. Ned scooted closer to MJ to make room. 

It was no longer just Michelle Ned and him, no. The entire decathlon team had started eating together. Peter wasn’t sure when it had started it just… did. But he found he actually enjoyed the company. The kids on his team were actually really funny and nice, and he found himself growing closer to them as the days went by. Even Flash sat with them. (If he was actually there for lunch, that is.)

Peter felt a familiar buzz in his pocket. He looked down.

**12:17 p.m.  
Ned: Have you talked to Tony Stark yet? **

Peter looked over at his friend, who was pretending as if he hadn’t sent a thing. It was probably for Flash’s sake but Peter was _pretty_ sure Flash wasn’t paying them any attention. 

Ned was the only person who knew that he had brought the issue up with Tony. The both of them figured that if anyone could help their… friend, it would be Ironman. 

**12:19 p.m.  
You: Yeah**

**You: on wednesday**

**You: he said he’d look into it**

**12:21 p.m.**

**Ned: okay good**

**Ned: i really hope something good comes from this**

**Ned: i never thought i’d say it**

**Ned: but i’m worried about flash**

**You: who would have thought huh?**

**Ned: yeah**

**Ned: :’)**

“Peter! Ned!” Abby chastised, pursing her lips together. They both snapped their heads up while simultaneously shoving their phones into their pockets. Sally stifled a laugh.

“As I was saying,” Abby continued. “I was thinking we could all hang out saturday night at my house. We’ll order a couple pizzas, watch some horror movies or cheesy rom coms, it’ll be fun!” She grinned wide. Everyone around the table looked just as excited. 

“Sounds great.” Abe nodded.

“I don’t know. Might go might not. I’ll see.” Mj replied nonchalantly. Almost everyone else responded back with an excited yes. 

“Flash?” Abby called, looking over at the boy at the very end of the table. He looked to be spacing out again. “Flash!”

Peter’s stomach clenched at the way Flash flinched when Abby called his name. He looked over at her seeming almost startled. “Yeah?”

“My place saturday?” She repeated herself, shortening the invite. 

“I uh, can’t sorry.” He shook his head. Even for this year, after Flash had changed a considerable amount, that wasn’t regular behaviour from the boy. He sounded very different today than any other. Abby frowned. 

“Are you sure? I mean we could move it to friday night if that works better for you,” She told him, a strange look in her eyes. Flash shook his head again.

“No it’s fine. I uh, I have to go now too… sorry.” He mumbled the last part as he stood from his seat. That sounded _very_ unlike Flash. He was never one for being shy or quiet, quite the opposite actually.

Both Ned and Mj noticed he didn’t have a lunch. 

Peter stood uncertainly as he watched Flash waver on his feet. The latter put a hand on the table to stabilize himself. 

“Flash are you okay?” Sally asked, concern evident in her tone. The boy in question nodded stiffly before swaying dangerously once again. 

Peter was at his side before he could fall to the ground completely. He put a hand on his shoulder.

“Flash?” The spiderling asked. Flash pushed him away roughly. 

“I’m _fine_ ” He hissed before walking away. 

Everyone at the table knew he was anything but that as they watched him walk away.

xxx

Having Peter at school was… weird. To say the least. 

Loki had grown accustomed to having him in the tower. And now that he was gone seven hours a day five days a week, Loki felt like something was amiss. Which, yeah obviously something was, but he was still rather put off by it.

Peter was the only one who actually had to go to school and therefore was the only one who had to leave on a regular basis, so Loki supposed it could be worse. 

“Hey Lokes,” Tony grinned, waltzing into the common room. His phone buzzed twice, but he figured it could wait a few moments. Loki was curled up with a book on the inside of the window ledge. He looked rather peaceful, which was nice. Storm was at the other end of the ledge, snoring happily. Loki smiled softly at the inventor.

“Hello Anthony,” He replied calmly.

Tony stopped to look down at his phone as it buzzed again loudly. 

Instantly, his face paled. Loki was already on edge. “Anthony?”

Tony could only look down at his phone.

**4:07 p.m.**

**peter: i need you here**

**peter: now**

**4:10**

**peter: mr stark please**

**peter: 14 clarydon street**

**peter: please**

“Oh fuck. oh shit...” He muttered, already thinking of the fastest possible route. He paced back and forth as he swiped for Happy’s number. No. He needed the quinjet. What if Peter was hurt?

Loki frowned, standing and walking over to the inventor. He looked down at the phone. 

“Hold on to me.” He ordered. Tony stopped to stare at him confusedly.

“What?”

“Just do it.”

Tony hesitantly wrapped his hand around Loki’s arm. There was a wisp of Loki’s magic and then he was standing in the streets of New York. 

“What…” Tony looked around blearily. Did Loki just… teleport them? His eyes widened, snapping his head to the left and looking at the teen. Loki was here. Loki was outside of the tower. Oh god oh god oh fuck oh go-

“What did you just do?” He asked, a slight tinge of panic in his voice. 

“I teleported us.” Loki said as if it was the most simple thing in the world, “Now come, we must find Peter.”

Right. Peter. God, Tony had to freak out over both his figurative children. Loki was out of the tower and Peter was in some sort of trouble. “All this stress is going to give me grey hairs,” He muttered, following Loki.

“Mr. Stark!” A voice cried from their right. Tony whipped his head over to see Peter poking out the front door of one of the houses.He looked to be panicking. 

“Kid?” He called back, walking over hurriedly, “Are you okay?” He asked concern in his features. Peter nodded shakily. 

“I- Loki?” He questioned, staring at the god standing beside Tony. 

“Hello Peter,” Loki waved, “Are you well?” He asked. Peter’s face paled.

“Uh yeah I’m okay but…” The spiderling trailed off motioning for them to follow him inside. Tony and Loki shared a look.

“Uh Pete? Who’s house is this and why are we in it?” The billionaire asked, feeling uneasy. As they neared what Tony could only assume was the living room, a loud banging seemed to be getting louder. 

Standing in the doorframe of the living room, Loki’s eyes widened. There was a man, with greying hair and angry eyes tied to a chair and gagged, and a beaten and unconscious teen on the floor. 

“Peter…” Tony started slowly. “What the _fu-_ ”

“This wasn’t me!” The spiderling interrupted him before he could finish. “Or uh… _most_ of this wasn’t me.”

“Mr. Stark that’s Flash Thompson.” Peter said, looking over at the boy with a sadness in his eyes. 

“Oh.” Tony realized. “ _Oh._ Kid… what happened?” He asked. The man who he assumed was Flash’s father had gone silent, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Well I was worried about Flash. I mean, I have been for awhile but, but today was really bad and I don’t know I just… followed him home.” Peter was rambling now, speaking faster than Tony had ever heard.

“You what?”

“I just, I had such a bad feeling about today. About Flash specifically and whenever I get feelings like this something bad _does_ happen…” He trailed off.

“So you snuck into his house?”

“No I uh, I watched through a window.” Peter rubbed the back of his head nervously. 

“Kid you’re making it really hard to stick on your side.” Tony warned, wondering just what the fuck Peter had done.

“Look I know it sounds bad but what I saw was _worse_.” The Spiderling urged, eyes pleading. He looked over at Flash’s father, a stone cold look in his eyes. “He was abusing his son. And not just like a slap to the face he was… he was _beating_ him.” 

“Oh kid,” Tony’s face softened. He had been trying to get in contact with some of Flash’s relatives ever since Peter had told him. The younger boy looked so upset. “So that’s when you intervened?” 

“I should have sooner. I didn’t stop him before he… before…” Peter stopped, taking a few breaths. “He hit him on the head Mr. Stark. Hard. And now he won’t wake up. And I know you’re not supposed to move someone who got hit on the head so I just left him on the floor but I didn’t know what to do after that so I-”

“Kid, kid,” Tony stopped his panicked rambling, “It’s okay. You did the right thing by calling me. Okay?” He asked. Peter nodded mutely. 

“The next thing we need to do is call an ambulance and the cops. Uh huh?” Peter nodded again. 

Loki, who had been silent the whole time, and switching in between giving dirty glares to Mr. Thompson and staring sadly at Peter’s friend, walked over to Flash. He knelt down, hands hovering over Flash’s prone body.

“Loki?” Peter asked, furrowing his brow. “What are you doing.”

“If his head is damaged he could have serious injuries.” 

That was the only warning he gave before his hands were aglow with green magic. Tony and Peter watched worriedly. 

When Loki finally finished he sat back, hands falling to his sides. He noticed both Peter and Tony looking at him expectantly. 

“He had a… what do humans call it? Brain bleed? Brain hemorrhage? It was caused by the trauma to the head.” Tony took a sharp intake of breath. “But he will be fine now.” Loki smiled softly.

Peter smiled. “Oh my god,” He laughed incredulously, “thank you, Loki.” He said breathlessly, getting on his knees so he could hug the god. “Those can be fatal you know. You saved his life.”

“Of course I know.” Loki rolled his eyes. “I still wouldn’t advise moving him. Wait for the trained medics.” 

Peter stood, he looked like the whole experience had taken a lot out of him. “I’m gonna go call my friends, they’re gonna wanna know what happened.” He said wearily, “I’ll leave you two out of it though.” He smiled tiredly. Loki watched as he left and a silence settled over the room.

“Yes hello 911? I’m here to report a case of domestic abuse.” Loki looked up when he heard Tony on the phone. “14 clarydon street… A father abusing his son… Flash Thompson… Yes we’ll need an ambulance… biggest concern? trauma to the head… he’s good yes we haven’t moved him… thank you.” 

Tony let out a loud sigh, rubbing his temple as he hung up. “Are you alright Anthony?” Loki asked, staring at him worriedly.

“It’s just… the poor kid.” He said quietly, staring at Flash. Mr. Thompson was still quiet, staring holes into the back on Tony’s head. Tony glared angrily at him. In a moment of fury he walked over and ripped off the makeshift gag Peter had made. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He questioned. “That’s your son. You almost _killed_ him. Your own son.”

The man ignored Tony’s question. “You’re Tony Stark.”

“I don’t care about that. What the fuck makes you think you have the right to hurt your son?” Tony seethed. Mr. Thompson’s face went dark.

“He was a disobedient little fuck. And I have the right to what I want to him. I don’t answer to you.” He spat, having gotten over his initial shock. 

“Actually fuckface you do, because I’m part of the fucking government and I called the police on you. So whether you answer to me or not, you’ll be answering to somebody.” Tony replied, more angry than Loki had ever seen him. He sounded like all logic was lost and only fury remained. Had the situation not been so serious, Loki might have laughed. “And another thing Mr. Thompson,” He started, “No, you don’t have the right to do whatever you want to him. He is _not_ your property. He’s your child.”

The man looked away, not having anything to say. Outside, police sirens sounded. Loki bit his lip nervously. Tony whipped his head around to look at the god. Fuck. In all his anger he had forgotten about him. He couldn’t let Loki be seen by any of the police.

“Lokes can you uh, go check if there’s anyone else in the house?” He asked, hearing Peter outside talking to the police. Loki gave him a strange look, but nodded and walked away nevertheless. 

Tony watched as Peter led two police officers into the living room. Both of their eyes widened at the sight of him, but they tried to remain focused. 

“This is him.” Peter spat, with more malice in his voice than Tony had ever heard. The two officers nodded and mumbled a thanks, moving to cut the duct tape that had Mr. Thompson tied to the chair. 

“Erik,” The older man said in a friendly tone. “Erik my friend, this is just a big misunderstanding. We can let it go. Right?” He laughed. 

“No.” The officer replied icily. “No we can’t Harrison.”

Mr. Thompson’s eyes widened. He turned to the other officer. 

“Allister,” He chuckled nervously, “Come on, I swear it was an accident I-”

“Sir you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. With these rights in mind, are you still willing to talk with me about the charges against you?” The second police officer asked monotonously. Harrison’s jaw tightened with fury. 

“The paramedics will be here soon.” One of the officers, Erik, told them as his partner cuffed Flash’s father. “He’s stable?” He asked, looking over at Flash’s body. 

“Yes,” Tony nodded, “Thank you officers.” He smiled weakly. They nodded in return, barely able to hide the smiles growing on their faces at the praise they’d earned from none other than Tony Stark himself as they lead Mr. Thompson out of the house. 

Another quiet settled over the entire home. “Where’s Loki?” Peter asked, looking around. Tony didn’t exactly know how to tell him why he sent the god off, but it seemed he didn’t have to, because Loki had returned. 

“There’s no other human here.” Loki told them. “But this is a _very_ large establishment for someone who is not royalty.” He said, looking around. Peter couldn’t deny that. Mr. Thompson was a very well known man. He was awfully successful. Especially for a police officer. 

They lapsed into silence once more and awaited the ambulance.

xxx

Peter felt his insides twist as they teleported back to the tower. 

They hadn’t stuck around long once the paramedics showed. Not soon after the ambulance, the news had wheeled up. Tony had been rather adamant on leaving once he saw them. 

Loki had teleported them right to the room where they had been when they left. It just so happened that this time it was full of Avengers. They stared at the three for a few moments, before standing and swarming them with questions.

Both Loki and Peter were harshly enveloped into a hug. 

“Are you both crazy!?” Shuri cried as she broke the embrace, “ _you_ didn’t come home from school,” She looked pointedly at Peter, “And _you_ disappeared off the face of the earth with Stark!” She narrowed her eyes at Loki as she hit them both.

“My my,” Loki’s lips curved upwards, “Were you worried about us?” He cooed. Shuri’s face contorted into an even bigger frown. 

“No.” She bit back, but both Peter and Loki knew she was lying. 

“Oh come here you big baby,” Peter rolled his eyes pulling her and Loki into another hug. 

Beside them, the adult Avengers were having a less heartfelt moment. 

“Tony,” Scott started, “Where the hell did you go?”

Clint reached out and put a hand on the inventor’s shoulder. “ _Loki was out of the tower!?_ ” He hissed, “You know we can’t let him out-”

“I know,” Tony replied putting his head in his hands. “I know and everything was happening so fast and then the news showed up and I had to get out of there and Peter-” 

“ _The news?_ ” Steve questioned, eyes wide. “Tony what happened?”

The inventor looked at the three teens already walking away. He sighed as he sat down on the couch, rubbing his temple.

“Pete followed a kid home.” He started, and then immediately realized that was the wrong thing to start with. “I mean- not like a random kid- like a kid he knew from school. They’re… friends.” He said uncertainly. 

“But uh, but the reason was that he had told me about how the kid was um, showing signs of abuse. And so uh, when he followed him he saw the kids dad uh- well abusing him. And the dad hit Pete’s friend on the head. _Hard_. And uh- the kid wouldn’t wake up so Pete texted me. And while I was sort of kind of… panicking, Loki _teleported_ us to where Peter was.” Tony let out a shaky laugh. 

“He teleported you?” Natasha asked, brow furrowed. Tony nodded.

“Like bam whoosh you’re there?” Scott mimicked an explosion with his hands. Tony laughed. “Yes Scott.” 

“Is Peter’s friend okay?” Hope questioned. The inventor nodded again. 

“Yeah, he’s good.” He smiled shakily. 

“You said the news showed up?” Bucky repeated. By now, all of the Avengers save for the teens had made their way into the room. 

“Uh yeah, right near the end they did.” 

“Why?”

“The kid was uh, the Thompson kid.” 

“ _Oh,_ ” Sam’s eyes widened. Many people knew Harrison Thompson. He was a very well known cop. Some would even call him New York’s best. “Oh…”

“Yeah…” Tony took a deep breath.

No one knew what to say to that.

xxx

Loki was walking towards his room when he heard it. 

The very faint but distinct voice of Tony Stark through the closed door. 

Despite his best interests, Loki’s curiosity peaked. He bit his lip and looked over into the room beside the one Tony was in. Loki smiled, it was empty. 

Walking in, he sat down on the couch up against the shared wall. Waving his hand, a small wisp of green magic swirled in the air and hit the wall. After a few beats, Loki could hear everything Stark was saying as though he was in the same room. 

“-es, Yes. Did you have any reporters on the scene at the Thompon’s residence this afternoon? --- Tony Stark --- Yes that’s right --- I’ll pay you a _generous_ amount to have your footage from today’s events. --- Yes I’m aware that Harrison Thompson is a big deal --- Yes Ma’am I know --- Ma’am, if you would just let me talk to the person who runs this whole thing I’m sure they’d be interested in my offer --- Thank you. ------- Hello? --- Yes hello mrs. Belanger. --- Yes, --- Yes I know ---”

Loki frowned as Tony paused for a long amount of time. The inventor sighed loudly. 

“Tell you what, I’ll pay you whatever you want for the footage, go through it myself, and then send in the pieces you can use tonight. How does that sound? --- Thank you mrs. Belanger. Always a pleasure doing business. Bye bye now.” Tony sighed again as he hung up. 

Loki’s brow furrowed as he tried to process what Stark had said. Was it really that big of a deal if any of them were in the news? He wasn’t entirely sure how midgardian news worked but this seemed a little strange.

Once again, Loki felt the everpresent nagging in his head.

_Something’s going on. Something’s going on and they’re lying to you. Don’t trust them. Don’t trust them. Don’t trust them. Don’t trust them. Don’t trust them._

He tried to ignore it, but with every passing day it got louder. Loki wasn’t sure how much longer he could deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUMMARY OF THIS CHAP FOR ALL FLASH THOMPSON HATERS !!!!! :::: basically flash gets beat by his dad sO bad that peter calls tony and in his initial panic, loki teleports them there, which raises a couple problems since according to the adult avengers, loki can't leave the tower. (but none of the kids know that) but because the thompsons are so well known, the news shows up, and that night loki overhears tony talking about paying the news to have their footage of that day. Loki's mind starts going places and thinking things it never should, and the trust he's built with the Avengers is slowly becoming more and more shaky
> 
> this End note is gonna be long so I apologize in advance my fellow gays 
> 
> my two cents on Flash Thompson: Everything I incorporated about flash in this chap was based on events that are canon in the comics. Because in the comics, Flash is physically abused by his dad, an alcoholic police officer. I know it's so so easy to look at Flash and hate him upon first glance. But I promise you if you read into his character just a bit, it's so much harder to hate him. Flash grows up to be an INCREDIBLE human being and he's so brave and has only good intentions in mind and he's been through so so much. I really do love him like bye I deadass just started crying as I wrote this because every spiderman movie only shows the worst of flash and I just,,,, he isn't bad. He genuinely grows up to be one of Peter's best friends and he just- he deserves SO much better i'm actually a sobbing mess rn ohmygod I cant please I love him so much I can't explain-
> 
> ANYWAYS STREAM VENOM (2018)
> 
> im not kiddinf I love venom so much words aren't enough to express my love
> 
> ALSO !!!  
> the A4 trailer,,, my dudes,,, what the FUCK


	16. yikes !

hey guys this is something i’ve been considering for a while now, but i’m going to begin the process of rewriting this fic

in other words, this version will no longer be getting updates.

lately i’ve been really really unhappy with the story as a whole and it just feels messy, like the plot isn’t what it should be, like characters aren’t acting like themselves, and like everything has been happening too fast and erratically. All that stuff really made it hard for me to find inspiration to write and i really just haven’t been enjoying this fic as of late. 

i highly encourage you to check out/read the new version because in my personal opinion, it’s gonna be better :’))

the only further update here will be to say when the first chapter of the rewrite is posted!!

thank you all so so much for your support i hope you all read the new one !!

(i may or may not do the same thing to my revengers fic)


	17. it's back laid easeeee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hehe

the first chapter of the re-write has been posted ! 

luv u laid ease :0

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17492180/chapters/41200184


End file.
